


Dear Jay

by AnagramRMX



Series: Prince Jay [1]
Category: Aladdin (1992), Aladdin: The Animated Series, Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Animal Death, Child Neglect, Disney Channel Appropriate Levels of Child Abuse, Epistolary, Family Feels, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Lost prince, Modern Royalty, Original Character(s), Past Character Death, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2020-06-02 14:46:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19443604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnagramRMX/pseuds/AnagramRMX
Summary: Letters and texts sent after learning that Jay is the lost prince of Agrabah.





	1. Dear Jay

**Author's Note:**

> This is intended to take place maybe 2-3 months after the events of the first movie.
> 
> ALSO, warning to anyone using a screen reader, I use a lot of strike-throughs in this fic. I'm not familiar enough with web accessibility know how it will affect you or how to fix it through the HTML tags. So, if your screen reader isn't already set up to handle this, things might sound a little funny. Sorry!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Story now has a second part explaining what happened immediately prior to chapter 1:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/24324544

Dear ~~Jab~~ Jay,

~~I’m so s~~

~~Finding you after all this time~~

~~You look so much like~~

~~Hi.~~

I hope I’m not overstepping my bounds by writing you. Though it’s unbecoming of the Sultana, I have to admit, I can be impulsive, and couldn’t stop myself from trying. I completely understand if you aren’t ready though, and I won’t blame you for throwing this letter in the trash and not responding.

That said, I hope you do. Respond, that is. Learning you were alive, that you were our son, last Friday was a shock. ~~I’m so sorr~~ We probably weren’t in the best state of mind to come find you, but we had to see you, and I’m a bit afraid we might have made the wrong impression. Please know, no matter what happened in the past, what you may think of us, or ~~how we failed you~~ our world, we love you. You’ll always be our son, and we’re so proud of ~~what you’ve become~~

~~how you grew up~~

you.

Aziz tells me you’re front man on the tourney team! I’m afraid I don’t follow sports so much as Aladdin and Aziz do, but it sounds exciting! Aziz was talking about you for weeks after he saw your first game a few months ago, ~~and then of course there was what you and your friends did~~ I think he’s glad to have such a cool upperclassman for his brother. I hope the two of you are getting along at school, but please don’t hesitate to tell me if he’s making you uncomfortable. ~~Maybe we could come see one of your games.~~

How are you liking it in Auradon, and your classes? ~~I’m not sure what the transition from the isle~~ ~~Is it nicer than home~~ We saw some of your friends on campus when we ~~came to see you~~ visited, and they seemed very loyal and protective. I’m glad you have people around you who care so much. Evie especially seems like a firecracker! And I know that Carlos (Your roommate?) was the one who sent all those dogs onto campus ~~to keep us busy~~. Once we’d cooled down a little, ~~your father~~ Aladdin thought it was hilarious, and very resourceful. I dread getting back to Agrabah and finding that he’s planned to befriend the guard dogs to do the same thing when he’s avoiding paperwork.

There’s so much more I would like to ask, but for now, I’ll leave you with this. Don’t hesitate to call on us if you need anything, or if you’d just like to chat. We would love to hear from you for any reason. Even if it’s not a happy one.

With love,

~~Sultana~~

~~Mom~~

Jasmine

**Unknown Number:** Hello Sultana : )

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** This is the Sultanta’s head of security. Your contact of the monarch is a major breach of security. Who are you and how did you get this number?

 **Unknown Number:** Oh! Aladdin then. Hi, this is Jay’s friend Evie.

 **Unknown Number:** and don’t worry about how I got the number.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** Oh.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** Okay, Evie. Hi. Did you want to talk about something?

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** Is Jay okay?

_Evie added to Contacts_

**Evie:** Yes, Jay is okay.

 **Evie:** I’ve been elected to speak for myself, Mal, Carlos DeVille, and King Benjamin on Jay’s behalf actually. We are all very close to him, and as you saw last week, are very protective of each other, and wanted to be sure you know the full gravity of the situation. While we understand that you want to get to know Jay and speak to him as your son, we need to be sure that you are doing this for the right reasons and are not going in with any expectations.

 **Evie:** This is NOT because we think you should lower your expectations of Jay. We love him and he’s great. But if you walk in there expecting a prince, expecting someone polished and proper, expecting him to be exactly the way you pictured, and you treat him poorly because he does not live up to those expectations: that is on you.

 **Evie:** if there is any possibility that you could meet him and change your mind about this because he’s an Isle Kid or because there’s too much Jafaar in him: stop now.

 **Evie:** if there’s any possibility that you will regret he is your son, or belittle his habits, or talk down on him or his friends: stop now.

 **Evie:** He has already gone his entire life with Jafaar looking down on him for not being good enough, he doesn’t need to get his hopes up at the idea of real parents, only to have you hurt him because you wanted something else.

 **Evie:** We cannot stop you from meeting him, only try and convince you to do the right thing beforehand.

 **Evie:** Are we understood?

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** Evie, speaking for both Jasmine and I, we swear the last thing we want is to hurt him.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** For the last sixteen years, we’ve just wanted to know that he was alive, and we have been both hopeful and afraid of what we would find if we did. I can’t promise that there are no expectations. But I can promise that we will not hold them to Jay. Nothing that has happened to him is his fault. He is entitled to be his own person based on the circumstances that we are partly responsible for. He has every right to hate us, to refuse to talk to us, and to his own behavior should he choose to meet us anyway.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** We are so proud to have learned that despite everything he’s been through that he still chose the side of good at the coronation, but I insist that even if he hadn’t, even if all of you were villains, we would still love him. We know that this could really hurt him, and we’re going to let him make all the decisions. We’d be over the moon if he wants to talk to us, but we’re not going to try and push beyond letting him know that we’re here for him.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** If Jasmine’s letter was too forward, we won’t send any more.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** But if there’s any possibility to get to know him, please let us. We will do everything in our power not to hurt him or shun him or judge him.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** The ball is in your court.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** thank you for watching out for his best interests.

 **Evie:** Okay.

 **Evie:** We can’t promise that we’re the best judges of character, but we’re choosing to believe you for now.

 **Evie:** This in mind, we’ll be happy to try and help you see Jay when possible. You now have my number, and while I’m going to wait until Jay gives you his, Mal and Carlos are both offering you their numbers. Mal has the most classes with him during the day, and Carlos is with him at night if you need to contact him in the event of an emergency, and they now have your number to contact you if they feel you need to know something.

 **Evie:** For non emergencies, please contact me.

 **Evie:** I would like it to be known that I am willing to trade details like Jay’s tourney schedule and favorite things for baby pictures.

 **Evie:** Like really, we looked up the official ones and they’re so cute. Please tell me there are more.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** lol, not as many as we’d like, but Jaz is already going to see if she can have someone at home send her the files.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** and thank you. We’ll keep all of that in mind.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** We really do appreciate that he has someone looking out for him. If it can’t be us, you’ve done a pretty damn good job so far.

 **Evie:** Thank you : ) We were a little worried we’d scared you all off after everything on friday. It all got a little crazy : P

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** Haha, just a little.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** anyway, I seriously need to know how you got this number. Like: I’m glad you texted, but having this number is _actually_ a security breach.

 **Evie:** I mean, it wasn’t anything dramatic.

 **Evie:** but maybe tell Aziz he need’s a stronger phone password.

 **Evie:** and a new locker combination.

 **Evie:** and also that his roommate leaves the door to their dorm unlocked, but that’s just something we noticed, not something we took advantage of.

 **Evie:** Princes really should have better security standards.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** They do. I’ll be sure and remind him

**Unknown Number:** warning: change your locker combination and your phone password, and don't let your phone out of your sight ever again.

 **Aziz:** What?

 **Aziz:** Is this about how those kids got my mom's phone number?

 **Unknown Number:** Yep.

 **Aziz:** okay. Thanks for the heads up.

 **Aziz:** who is this by the way?

 **Unknown Number:** Jay

**Aziz:**

**Aziz:**

**Aziz:** Oh.

~~Salutations your~~

~~Dear Sultana Jasmine,~~

~~Dear mom,~~

~~Dear Jasmine?~~

Hi.

Thanks for the letter. I wasn’t really expecting it. Not that I was upset to get it! I promise. It’s just…

~~I have no idea how to deal with this.~~

~~I don’t get why you want a fucked up kid like me~~

I’m not really sure what to say yet. It’s kind of hard to process.

I was pretty shocked the other day too, if you couldn’t tell. Not gonna lie, I kind of ran off and hid on the roof when I found out. Aziz probably told you already, but he found me up there before anyone but Mal thought to look for me there. Is crawling around on the roof an inherited trait?

Anyway, I’m not really sorry for hiding. I feel like I totally had the right to hide from my problems, but, hey. My friends were out there, right? I couldn’t be a coward if they were going to scream at royalty for my sake. But I probably should have stopped them before the band ran into the dogs. Carlos was so worried when they dropped a tuba on Killer, and Angry was well…angry when his clarinet got slobbered on. I haven’t heard the end of it from either of them.

Auradon is nice. There’s always ~~enough food~~ ~~sleep~~ ~~hot water~~ something new to do around here. Exploring the buildings here are pretty neat too. They’re so tall here! Class isn’t so great. I’m not really into math or science like the others, but I’m taking History of Woodsmen and Pirates, which isn’t nearly as boring as ~~Royal History~~ ~~Remedial Goodness~~ Math is Magic Class.

My friends are the best! Evie really loves it here because of all the new fabric she gets, and yeah, she can be a handful. Chad Charming gave her some ~~shit~~ grief when we started and she ripped him a new one. It was pretty great.

Yes, Carlos is my roommate. He’s also on the tourney team, but I’m not sure he’s gonna stay on it much longer. Coach thinks he’s too nervous, and I know he’s not into sports. Or at least not Tourney. He’d probably like all the tumbling the cheerleaders do though, but I’m not sure if he would be insulted or not if I told him to join the squad.

Oh! There’s also Mal-she’s the best. You’ve probably seen her on TV since she’s dating ~~Ben~~ King Ben and all, but IDK if you saw her at school. She was kind of ~~guilty about~~ scarce that afternoon. You should meet her though. She draws these super cool dragons on everything and it’s constantly irritating Fairy Godmother.

And don’t worry about Aziz. He’s only about as annoying as Carlos, and definitely better at tourney. We’ve hung out a few times and passed the ball around. He’s got a shot at making Junior Varsity next year, according to coach.

But he also keeps making bets that he can beat me, and that’s just not gonna fly. I apologize if he’s ended up in the nurses’ office a few times, but I swear he started it.

Also ~~I've heard~~ he tells me ~~he~~ ~~we have a sister~~ you also have a daughter named Isra? What’s she like? Is there a reason she stayed in Agrabah when you came here?

~~Finding out I had a family kinda threw me. Finding out I had even more…well, having actual parents who want to know me is already…~~

I’ll let you know if I need anything ~~, but I can’t really think of anything.~~

 ~~Wait no.~~ Can you send pictures? I’ve always wanted to know what Agrabah is like, but all the pictures we saw were for royal announcements and travel brochures. Like, what’s it really like there? Is the sand irritating?

Wow this letter got longer than I thought it would. I’m gonna stop now, I guess.

If you want to come to a game sometime, let me know. My friends will save seats for you guys and Aziz.

Bye

Jay

 ~~PS: Thanks for writing.~~ ~~I don’t~~ ~~didn’t~~ ~~I’m not sure how to deal with this yet, but I want to know you.~~


	2. Dear Jasmine

Dear Jay,

It was so wonderful to receive your letter earlier today! It’s okay if you’re not sure what to say yet. ~~I’ve had a lot longer to think about what I wanted to say to you, and even I’m not sure.~~ I just like hearing from you.

I wasn’t at all surprised to hear that you and Aziz found each other on the roof. I can’t say whether it’s an inherited trait or not, but if it is, you certainly get it from Aladdin, and he possibly got it from his father. Both of them have a history of jumping around the city. Aladdin says he did it before we met because he had to, and he does it now to stay in shape.

I think he actually does it because Aziz and Isra think it’s cool.

To answer your questions about Isra, I’m betting she’s also inherited the roof-crawling gene. She six years old and she’s absolutely the sweetest girl, but she’s also got a habit of wandering off. She’s just so curious and ends up in places she really shouldn’t be.

She’s been asking about you nonstop since we told her about you. Would you mind if she sent you a letter or two as well?

We didn’t bring her with us because ~~we forgot~~ ~~We didn’t think about it~~ she wasn’t with us when Jordan called about you. After Genie told us the news, we ~~panicked~~ ~~didn’t even think about~~ decided seeing you was important enough that he should use magic to get us here. We didn’t even pack. Just asked Genie to bring us here. Isra was very upset to be left behind, but forgot about us as soon as her tutor told her they were visiting the elephants later this week.

I’m sorry school isn’t interesting. I was never a spectacular student either. I couldn’t sit still in class ~~, and it’s not like any of it was important~~ I understand why you don’t like math. My least favorite class when I was young was Royal History. Learning about Agrabah was interesting (and important when you’re the princess), but memorizing the names of royalty older than my grandparents for every single kingdom in the land was so boring.

(Don’t tell Fairy Godmother I admitted that)

At least you’ve got Tourney, though! Aziz has never admitted to ending up in the nurses’ office, and the Fairy Godmother hasn’t called us about it, so I won’t pry about that. I’m glad you’re getting along! ~~We’ve always wondered how he would react if we found you, and we were worried after everything. He was so quiet after we left school last Friday, but~~

I actually haven’t seen Mal yet. She sent me her phone number a few days ago, but hasn’t said more than that. There’s a state dinner we’ll both be attending in a few days, though, and I hope to meet her then.

I have seen her dragons, though. Aziz sent us a picture when the four of you started school. Does she do a lot of ~~graffiti~~ painting?

And while I have pictures, I’m not sure if I have the pictures you’re looking for. Most of the ones I have on hand are of course the official ones, or they’re family pictures from inside the palace. I’d still be more than happy to send those, though! ~~Evie asked for baby pictures the other day, but I wasn’t sure if you’d be okay with~~ For pictures of the rest of Agrabah, that’s a question for ~~your father~~ Aladdin. He’s more familiar with the ‘Real Agrabah’ than I am. We’re trying to remedy that by touring the kingdom more often, but we don’t usually take photos unless it’s for the press. We’ll be sure to get some for you in the future, though. He says that you should check out one of his lieutenants Auragram account, since he posts whenever he’s on patrol. I’ll let you know when he finds the name.

We’d love to come to one of your games! You’ve got one coming up next Friday, right? We’re going to be in town for another few weeks and would love to come to as many games as we can.

Feel free to come by the Embassy and see us whenever you’d like as well. We won’t always be in, but Aziz comes by often too. The two of you can hang out if we’re away. Just let me know, and we’ll send a driver to get you. My phone number is 7774654844 and Aladdin’s is 5793379470, if you need to reach us. Never hesitate to call if you want to.

I’ve got to go, but I was really good to hear from you, and I hope to hear from you again soon.

Love,

Jasmine

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_2:31 PM_ **

**J:** YOU SENT MY LETTER?!

 **E:** Yes.

 **J:** I TOLD YOU TO GIVE IT BACK TO ME! I JUST ASKED WHAT YOU THOUGHT!

 **E:** I *thought* it was perfectly fine, so I went ahead and sent it instead of giving it back to you and letting you put it off. Did you get a response?

 **J:** thats not the point!

 **E:** Jasmine says she was really happy to hear from you and replied as soon as she got it.

 **J:** Evie! Stop! I sounded like an idiot!

 **E:** Do you want to know your mom or not?

 **E:** I’m sorry I sent the letter without your permission, but it was for your own good. You want to talk to her, and she wants to talk to you, so I’m helping.

**J:**

**J:**

**J:** youve been talking to her?

 **E:** Not a lot. I had a discussion with Aladdin right after we got Jasmine’s letter, and I talked to her yesterday.

 **E:** They seem like very nice people.

 **J:** ok

**J:**

**J:** thank you

 **E:** What are friends for? : )

**_Jasmine’s Phone_ **

**_5:33 PM_ **

**Unknown Number:** this is Jay

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** Hi Jay! I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. I guess you got my letter?

_Jay added to Contacts_

**Jay:** yeah. It got here a while ago, thought i’d go ahead and send you my number.

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** Thank you for that : )

 **Jasmine’s Phone** **:** I feel I should ask, would you be more comfortable if I texted you instead of wrote you letters?

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** Aziz made it sound like I was a dinosaur when I said I had written to you on paper. Haha

 **Jay:** no

 **Jay:** wait

**Jay:**

**Jay:** I like getting the letters

 **Jay:** or we could text

 **Jay** : if *you* want

 **Jay:** it’s whatever

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** That’s okay too : )

 **Jasmine’s Phone:** I really look forward to getting your response.

 **Jay:** okay, cool.

**_Aladdin’s Phone_ **

**_5:34 PM_ **

**Unknown Number:** This is Jay. Jasmine sent me your number, and now you have mine too.

 **Aladdin:** Oh, hey!

 **Unknown Number:** Hey

**Aladdin:**

**Aladdin:** ~~so~~

**Aladdin:**

**Aladdin:** ~~would you like~~

**Aladdin:**

**Aladdin:**

Dear Jasmine,

~~I like to hear from you too. This is the first time any of us have gotten mail that wasn’t a formal invitation or official documents. It’s weird, but nice.~~

Isra can definitely send me letters if she wants. Having family is kind of weird, to be honest. ~~On the Isle~~ Until recently it was just me and ~~dad~~ Jafar, and he never really talked about Agrabah, or anyone there. But now it's not just you and Aladdin, but also Aziz and Isra and Sultan Hamed and apparently also Aladdin's dad too. Can you tell me anything about them? I honestly couldn't even find Aladdin's dad's name, and I kind of want to if I have something in common with him.

I don’t think I believe you about not being a good student. You _are_ a queen ~~(can we call sultanas queens???)~~ , and I'm not sure they'd let you run the country if you didn't know what you were doing. At least that's what they're trying to convince me in our government class. But I definitely get what you mean about Royal History! I'm lucky I got out of taking it, but Carlos and Evie are in that class rn and listening to them study for it is the worst.

Is that honestly something that comes up around here? Why would I need to know the name of some guy who's been dead for 200 years if he didn't even do anything???

Though, I've got a question: When you said that Aladdin has lieutenants, I asked Carlos and Evie about why a Sultan would have lieutenants. We had a really long boring conversation about marrying into the royal family, but I was still surprised to hear Aladdin became captain of the guard. What's up with that?

Mal says she'll say hi when you go to that dinner. And yeah, she's really into painting and drawing. Back home it was mostly tagging, but Ben convinced her to join the art program and she's started sticking to canvas. But she's really stoked about getting to work on a mural on the side of our dorm building next month! I'm pretty sure Ben suggested it to Fairy Godmother specifically for her. Not sure if he did it because they're disgustingly in love or because he's just a generally cool guy.

I went ahead and told Evie that you would be coming to the game tomorrow, and she says she'll text you before so you can all meet up.

See you then,

Jay

~~Dear Jay~~

~~Sup~~

~~Jay,~~

~~Hi?~~

~~You know, your mother makes this look a lot easier.~~

_Hey – Mal_

_Hey – Aladdin_

_Are you as bored as you look? – Mal_

_Sands yes, but don’t tell Jasmine – Aladdin_

_Hah, I’m just happy to find someone else who will admit it. Why do they even do this???? – M_

_Something about transparency? We usually telecom in so I get to do something else when they’re talking about the budget – A_

_Ugh. I wish I could do that, but Ben comes to all of them in person. – M_

_I’m sure he won’t mind if you want to duck out on one or two of them – A_

_No. I’ve got enough grief about being from the isle without having people saying I can’t date Ben because I can’t govern. I’ll listen. – M_

_If you say so. – A_

_Uh huh. So…Ben didn’t want to ask you directly, but he’s a little worried. Are y’all good? With the entire situation with Jay? – M_

_We are. Really. We’re just happy to know he’s alive honestly. How’s Jay handling it? I know he’s been writing letters to Jaz, but that doesn’t mean he’s okay. – A_

_He’s good. Confused and a little angry, but good. – M_

_Don’t make that face. He’s not angry at you, he’s angry at Jafar. – M_

_That’s good to know. Still, wish he didn’t have to be – A_

_I don’t, but I’d rather not get into this right now. – M_

_I didn’t mean stop writing notes. I’m bored out of my skull here – M_

_Ha! Okay. Want to play hangman? – A_

_I’m tempted to tell them to be professional, but I feel like that’s a bad idea for some reason – Ben_

_Just let them enjoy their game and stop writing me notes, Mr. Professional – Jasmine_

Dear Jay,

Sure! I’d be more than happy to tell you about everyone!

Aladdin’s father’s name is Cassim. We haven’t made it widely available or put it in the media because he is currently a wanted criminal. We love him, but we would all rather avoid the media nightmare it would be. He comes to visit for the ~~grandkids’~~ everyone’s birthdays, but that’s about all we see of him. I’m sure Aladdin would love to tell you about the time he wrecked our wedding! You should also ask him about his mother. She died when Aladdin was very young, but he has some very sweet memories of her.

My father is wonderful, if a little uptight. We used to have these rules that prevented me from leaving the palace or even talking to any of the common people. I had already met Aladdin by the time we convinced him we should start abolishing them. It was ridiculous! How was I supposed to rule if I didn’t actually talk to my people???

But like I said, he’s also wonderful. He was good ruler, when he had reliable advisors, and he’s been enjoying himself so much since he retired. Once those etiquette rules were abolished, he started making friends with normal people, and now he’s got a bowling club. ~~He loved spending time with you as a baby He cried when~~ He was very excited to hear you were ~~alive~~ here in Auradon, and asked us to send pictures of your games once we had some.

Isra is named after my mother. She died when I was young, but she would tell me the most amazing stories. Remind me to tell you about the Star Tiger sometime; it was my absolute favorite, and I named my first tiger, Rajah, after the tiger in the story.

Which reminds me, if I’m talking about family, I also have to talk about Rajah and Rawiya. Rajah passed away over a decade ago, but he was my oldest friend. I found him after he’d escaped from the circus, and he was so small! But he stayed with me in the palace when I didn’t have anyone else to play with, and he was just the best. He would attack all of the suitors I didn’t like too! Even Aladdin, at the beginning.

Rawiya came along a few years after Rajah passed. She wasn’t a kitten, and it was a lot harder to get her to trust us ~~after her cubs,~~ which is a story for another time. Either way, she loves us and is keeping Isra company while we’re gone.

We’ve also got Genie and Carpet too! Genie is to us what Fairy Godmother is to you in Auradon, although a bit more laid back. He’s not quite as hard against frivolous magic as she is, but does mostly keep it to a minimum these days. He went back to Agrabah to keep an eye on things for us, but I know he’d love to meet you.

Carpet is our magic carpet of course. He also happens to be our chauffer, so I’m sure you’ll see him soon enough. He spent a lot of time flying Aladdin and I around before Auradon started discouraging magic so heavily, so he was very upset when we had to switch to a car for security reasons, and insisted he be our driver.

Moving on, I promise you, I was the worst student, at least as far as my tutors were concerned. Royal history was really the only one I just despised, but we had to replace more than one of my government and economics tutors because they were sick of me arguing with them. Math and the history of Agrabah were normally okay, and my father didn’t think it was important for me to learn science. I wish I had, but we’ve gotten so beyond what was possible when I was young that I don’t know how much it would help me now.

 ~~Your father~~ Aladdin would literally die of boredom if we gave him standard royal duties. He honestly looks like he’s in pain if I ask him to sit still for too long, which is what most of my day consists of. But he still wanted to do something, and this allows him to help our people the most.

As captain of the guards, he gets to keep an eye on crime in Agrabah without having to sit still all the time. Since he knew the jail cells pretty well, he helped to overhaul them so that they were more comfortable, but also harder to escape. He also went back through all the books and had my advisors revisit some of our laws and the punishments for breaking them. There were some pretty harsh sentences for theft that I wasn’t aware of, apparently. Even for minors.

It’s a good role for him without dealing with the pomp and circumstance of my job, although he still tries to help with as much of our charity work as possible. And, if I can’t get out of work to spend time with our family, he usually can.

It was very nice to meet Mal yesterday evening. She and Aladdin got to be bored royal-spouses together and were playing hangman on a napkin while the rest of us were listening. We got to talk a bit afterwards, though, and eventually Ben got her to get out her sketch book to show us. She really is very talented! I can’t wait to see what the mural looks like, given her talent with a can of spray paint.

It seems I have to run off now, so I’ll go ahead and close out this letter.

Looking forward to seeing you at the game this afternoon!

Love,

Jasmine

**_Jordan’s Phone_ **

**_10:01 PM_ **

**Lonnie** : Okay, I gotta ask. Jay’s been acting weird and he left just left the game with your aunt and uncle. What’s going on?

 **Jordan** : are you gonna put it in your web series?

 **Lonnie** : you know I don’t do School of Secrets anymore, and no. I’m worried about him.

 **Jordan** : look, I don’t know if it’s something he wants anyone else to know, okay?

 **Lonnie** : but you do know?

 **Jordan** : Yes.

 **Lonnie** : Then can you at least tell me if he’s okay?

 **Jordan** : I don’t know the answer to that one yet

**_Evie’s Phone_ **

**_9:52 AM_ **

**Sultana Jasmine** : <15 Images Attached>

 **Sultana Jasmine** : Sorry for the late response! Here are the pictures I took last night at the game

 **Princess Evie** : Yay, thank you!

 **Princess Evie** : I forgot to tell you I got a few too

 **Princess Evie** : <3 Images Attached>

 **Princess Evie** : I really like the one with you and Aladdin standing with Jay!

 **Sultana Jasmine** : I do too

 **Sultana Jasmine** : Thank you so much, Evie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW, this was brought to you by: Aladdin Feels. I didn't go see the movie, but hearing about it made me nostalgic and I went back and started rewatching the cartoon series and digging through fanfic.  
> If anyone else is dying for another family reunion fic including Aladdin, I can't recommend L.C. Lane's Aladdin & the Heirs of Magic highly enough. It's not Descendants related, but it's still spectacular.  
> Link to ff.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8784758/1/Aladdin-the-Heirs-of-Magic


	3. Dear Aladdin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More past animal deaths mentioned in this chapter. Fun fact: Iago has the longest lifespan of all of Aladdin's animal friends. He’s currently living with Cassim and looking for treasure.

~~Jay,~~

~~Hey! It was really fun to hang out with you after your game the other day. You did really well!~~

~~I’m sorry I haven’t written yet. I wasn’t~~

~~I didn’t want to overwhelm~~

~~Jasmine already had~~

~~Ya know, I’m a head of state. I should be able to write a letter.~~

Dear Jasmine,

Seriously? Aladdin’s father was a thief too? I’m starting to wonder if that’s another inherited trait. Please tell me Aziz and Isra got it too.

But no really, that’s super cool. I’ll definitely ask Aladdin whenever I get a chance to talk to him next. ~~Whenever that ends up being. He hasn’t really~~

~~Okay, Mal said he was easy to talk to, and he seemed fine at dinner, but he~~

But if you’ve got any stories in the meantime, I’d still love to hear them, and about your dad and mom too. Especially any of the stories you heard from your mom. Oh! And the tigers! I’ve always thought they were super cool. I wasn’t sure they could really be pets, given the hunting and meat eating. Do they really like it indoors and at the castle? And didn’t Aladdin have a monkey back in the day?

Did the monkey also do stuff as a Royal Guard???

Please tell me yes! That would be so rad. ~~~~

~~Carlos looks nervous about animal decapitations so maybe don’t, actually~~

Was Carpet the one driving the other day? The divider was down and he didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure if he could say anything, actually. Carpets don’t talk, right? Or do they? I mean they’re magic anyway, so I’m sure they could, but…magic is weird, man.

And I’ve heard a lot about Genie, since Jordan is in our class, and she seems to be close with her dad. She likes tourney and films our games for her webshow, so we see each other a lot. He sounds a little ridiculous, based on the way Jordan talks about him, but she also snaps at anyone who even vaguely suggests that he’s not amazing. You guys know her, so about how accurate would you rate her opinion?

Also, I don’t know if I said how great it was to see you at my game on Friday. Seriously! It’s always awesome seeing my friends in the stands, but all of you together were yelling so loud you drowned out the announcer.

It was also really cool of you to take us out afterwards. I know Carlos and Evie said thank you a million times, but thank you again from me. We had a great time hanging out with you and I hope we can see you at my next game too.

~~You said I could come by the embassy if~~

I have to run to practice now, but I’ll write again soon!

-Jay

~~Jab~~

Jay,

Hey. It’s Aladdin.

There’s so much I want to say to you, and none of it seems like the right thing. I’ve been trying to find the words for days, and it’s just not happening, so…here’s what I do have.

Fifteen years ago, you were taken from us and it nearly killed me.

We were so sure that you were dead.

I don’t think I’ve thought about what would happen if we found you in, well, a really long time. It was just too hard. It hurt too much to think about what could have happened, or what you would have to say to us when you knew how we lost you.

And now you’re here. Alive and all grown up, and I just don’t know how to deal with it.

What am I supposed to say to you now? The one thing I want to say more than anything is that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not being able to find you, and that I want to make it right and that I love you so much. But you make it pretty clear that we weren’t –

You didn’t want –

But I don’t know where else to start!

If you’d stayed with us, you would have had a different life. Better, I hope. Till now, I’ve always thought you’d be the kid that grew up in the palace with us, the kid who’s like Aziz, and who I’ve told 900 times to pick up his clothes, and who gets mad at me for grounding him but knows I love him anyway.

But you’re not that kid, and I know better than anyone that you’re not and that I can’t talk to you like you are. You grew up starving and thinking that was all your life would be and sure as hell don’t get why a couple of strangers are paying so much attention to you.

The only thing I think I can actually talk about with you is Tourney. That’s real, that’s something I know you like. But…that’s it, and it doesn’t seem like enough.

I like listening to you talk about school. It’s nice to hear you talk about what’s going on in your life even when you don’t like it much. But after the game, you asked what my favorite class was, and the fact is, I didn’t go to school. Couldn’t. Honestly, it’s a miracle I learned to read and write. Everything I know is something I crammed into my head so I wouldn’t feel like an idiot when I married Jasmine, and-

Anyway. Schools out. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to ask about. Is it weird for me to ask about your friends that I barely know? Should I be encouraging when you complain about classes, or agree because they sound ridiculous to me too? Did you even go to school on the Isle? I know how to talk to Aziz about these things. I’ve known his friends since they were babies, and I always have to make sure he finishes his homework. But, I already said that I can’t talk to you like you’re Aziz.

Politics is boring. I’m not talking about it with the kid I haven’t seen in fifteen years.

I want to know about your life on the Isle. I know it’s gonna hurt, but it’s you and I need to know what I missed, I want to know what kind of dad Jafar was, and so much more. But you’ve only known me for two weeks. I can’t ask you about that yet. As far as you’re concerned, Jafar is still probably your dad more than I am.

I want to talk about Isra and Aziz and your grandparents. Isra is so excited to have an older brother, and Jasmine’s father is over the moon that you’re here. I want you to know about your family, but we promised we wouldn’t pressure you, and I don’t want to push you away by forcing it on you, so I’m not going to talk about it until you ask.

Weirdly enough, I wonder if this is how my dad felt when he found out I was his son. I didn’t meet my father until I was about to get married. We both thought the other had been dead for my entire life, and then he just kinda showed up. I’d always wanted to know him. Until I didn’t, because he was kind of an asshole. But he turned it around. It helped a little that he had to disappear for months on end because he was on Agrabah’s most wanted list. I should call him. See if he’s got any advice.

Oh, and Mozenrath? He was positively furious when our father reappeared in his life. Maybe I should just be thankful you didn’t try to stab me for trying to say hi.

By the way: it’s not public, but the King of the Black Sands is my brother. So you’ve got an uncle too. Also technically a villain, but hey, he’s family. I should introduce you.

Damn it, I didn’t mean that.

You’re not a villain. I know that. You proved that. You chose to be good, and I’m so proud of that.

But I can’t help but wonder if you still think you are. It’s how you grew up. I grew up as a street rat, and every day I wake up still thinking I’m that stupid kid who has to steal to eat. It never leaves, and I know it’s never going to leave you either because we couldn’t...I’m sorry.

I’m just so sorry.

Damn it. This wasn’t the letter I was supposed to write. I’m trying to make you want to talk to me, and this isn’t –

I’m just gonna put this in the trash now. Forget I ever wrote it.

Maybe the next one will finally be right.

Dear Jay,

LOL, I’m not sure if it’s inherited. Aziz didn’t inherit the stealing gene, to my knowledge. Isra might have. I’m not sure yet if her sticky fingers are just because she’s young or if it’s because she’s seen Aladdin do it and wants to do it to.

I’m sure Aladdin would love to tell you about his parents. I know he really enjoyed seeing you at the game the other day. ~~He hasn’t quite~~ ~~Writing isn’t his~~ He was really impressed with some of the plays you did during the game, if you couldn’t tell from the gushing he did at dinner, and the stories you and your friends told had him smiling for hours. We’re both so proud of you!

Tigers aren’t ideal housepets, unfortunately. If I weren’t sultana, I certainly couldn’t afford the meat that they need, and they aren’t really domesticated. Rajah and Rahina both love being part of the family, but we have to remember that they aren’t domesticated, and they will absolutely attack if provoked. They need a lot of space, and shouldn’t be approached if they don’t want the company. I learned that early, and changed my behavior to make sure Rajah was comfortable with me, and was able to teach Aziz and Isra the same. Aladdin learned over time, considering how protective Rajah was over me when it came to my suitors. It’s really hard not to spook a tiger when he kind of wants to bite you anyway.

And yes, he did have a monkey when we were younger. His name was Abu. He passed away around the same time Isra was born, and Aladdin took it really hard, the same as I did when Rajah passed. Abu had been with him since he was 13, and it was hard for all of us. Aziz was absolutely inconsolable. For me, Tigers are a kind of guardian animal, sent from my mother (I promise I’ll tell you the story! But I can’t do it in writing and do it justice. It just wouldn’t be the same.), but Abu was just Aladdin’s friend. His best friend. We haven’t had a monkey in the family since.

Abu was not officially a guard, although he was the official mascot of the guards and resident prisoner harasser. The guards loved letting him wake up all the men they’d picked up for Drunk and Disorderly Conduct. A monkey banging a nightstick against the jailbars must be a truly horrible way to wake up with a hangover…

Also, Carpet cannot speak, and we prefer he not try to sign to us if he’s driving. The police are concerned enough about how he doesn’t have eyes without him also taking his hands off of the wheel. Next time he drives us somewhere, we can introduce you and you’ll understand how he talks to us.

Genie is best described as both ridiculous and amazing. But honestly, I’m really glad that a self-proclaimed source of cosmic power is more concerned with making jokes and taking his daughter shopping than he is about something like world domination. He’s a good friend, and there’s almost no one I trust to cheer me up more than him.

Since we’re talking about family, ~~how was it with~~ ~~would you like to talk about~~ can I ask you about ~~your da~~ Jafar? We’re just curious ~~what he was like~~ ~~how you got along~~. Did he ever talk about you having a mom?

I also haven’t asked much about your other friends at school, but now that you mention Jordan, how are you liking the rest of the students in Auradon? Being the star of the tourney team has to have made you popular!

We loved seeing you play the other day, and we’ll try to see as many as we can going forward. When is the next game going to be? Is it this Friday or next?

Looking forward to the next time I see you!

Love,

Jasmine

~~Dear Jay,~~

~~I really~~

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_7:13 PM_ **

**Aladdin:** Hey, wanna get out of your afternoon classes tomorrow?

 **J:** sure? Why?

 **Aladdin:** Nothing.

 **Aladdin:** I want to spend time with you and I’m perfectly okay with bribing you by getting you out of class.

 **J:** works for me.

 **Aladdin:** cool, we’ll get lunch.

**_Carlos’s Phone_ **

**_8:41 AM_ **

**Prince Agrabah:** what the hell is jay wearing?

 **Carlos:** Err, you didn’t hear it from me, but he wanted to look nice.

 **Carlos:** Your dad is taking him to lunch.

**_“Prince Agrabah” was changed to “Younger Prince Agrabah” in contacts_ **

**Younger Prince Agrabah:** Oh.

 **Younger Prince Agrabah:** Errr…can you tell him to change jackets? Dad’s gonna think something is wrong if he shows up in formalwear.

 **Carlos:** We’re trying.

_Hey, what’s up with Jay? – Audrey_

_Hey, what’s up with Jay? – Audrey_

_Will you just answer me???? – Audrey_

_Why do you care? – Mal_

_I don’t, but everyone is staring and no one else will ask. – Audrey_

_He’s got a thing later today – Mal_

_A thing that requires formal attire? Since when??? – Audrey_

_Since none of your business – M_

**_Aziz’s Phone_ **

**_10:58 AM_ **

**Dog Kid:** Okay, not cool.

 **Aziz:** I’ll buy him a new jacket. It was for his own good.

 **Dog Kid:** Evie is going to murder you. She spent a week on that coat.

 **Aziz:** Okay, I’ll pay Evie to make him a new one.

 **Aziz:** It’s just a ripped sleeve. Don’t act like he doesn’t do that to half of his shirts anyway.

 **Dog Kid:** Dude. No. That is Jay’s only nice outfit.

**_11:31 AM_ **

**Dog Kid:** Hey, are you alive?

 **Dog Kid:** Aziz?

**_Evie’s Phone_ **

**_11:35 AM_ **

**Queen Mal:** What did you just do???????

 **Princess Evie:** He deserved it.

 **Queen Mal:** You know we want Jay’s family to like us, right?

 **Princess Evie:** Sultana Jasmine loves me and you know it.

 **Princess Evie:** she’s on my side about the jacket and Aziz is going to be grounded.

**_Mal’s Phone_ **

**_3:12 PM_ **

**Lonnie** : Okay, will *you* tell me what’s up with Jay?

 **Lonnie** : He’s been acting strange, and he was nearly going to kill Aziz this morning.

 **Lonnie** : I’m just worried.

 **Lonnie** : He won’t say anything and Jordan won’t tell me what she knows

 **M** : he’s okay.

 **M** : I can’t really say more than that, but he is okay.

**To** : [sultana.jasmine@agrabah.gov](mailto:sultana.jasmine@agrabah.gov)

 **From** : [mal.of.the.isle@auradon.edu](mailto:mal.of.the.isle@auradon.edu)

 **Subject** : Announcements???

Hi Jasmine,

People are asking us questions about why Jay’s been around you guys and Aziz. I’m gonna wait until Jay gives us the okay, but what were you planning for announcing who he is to the press? Will it cause an incident if people find out who he is?

-Mal

**_Carlos’s Phone_ **

**_7:14 PM_ **

**Younger Prince Agrabah** : Worth it.

 **Carlos** : What?

 **Younger Prince Agrabah** : Dad and Jay are here at the Embassy with us.

 **Younger Prince Agrabah** : Jay is still annoyed about the jacket, but he has accepted Evie’s punishment as enough.

 **Younger Prince Agrabah** : This is the happiest I’ve seen my parents since all of this started.

 **Younger Prince Agrabah** : So, worth it.

 **Younger Prince Agrabah** : also, they’re covered in dirt. I don’t know what they were doing, but they would have ruined that jacket anyway.

 **Carlos** : Well that’s good at least.

 **Carlos** : Evie says she’s not sorry, but that she will help replace your jersey if you ask nicely.

 **Younger Prince Agrabah** : Nah, but I do need to ask if she’ll tell me where all of my pants are. I need those.

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_11:41 AM_ **

**J:** So about my jacket

 **Aziz:** uuuuugggggggggghhhh

 **Aziz:** I already apologized.

 **J** : omg no

 **J** : just…thanks

 **J** : it was annoying, but you were trying to help.

 **Aziz** : Oh. Then…your welcome

 **Aziz** : Um…thanks for telling mom we were getting along.

 **J** : ? I thought we *were* getting along?

 **Aziz** : IDK.

 **Aziz** : We haven’t really talked at all.

 **Aziz** : Except on the roof that time. And when mom and dad are around

 **J** : we’ve played together at practice a few times…

 **Aziz** : you got me sent to the nurse!

 **J** : so?

 **J** : you haven’t tried to mess with me for any of it

 **J** : by Isle standards, we’re basically friends

 **J** : or you’re at least my minion or something

 **Aziz** : that’s messed up, and I tried to tackle you off the roof

 **J** : eh

 **J** : doesn’t count

 **J** : your tackle sucks

 **J** : besides, you told me you were happy I was back : P

 **Aziz** : No, I told you I was happy for mom and dad that you were back.

 **Aziz** : I’m really not sure how *I* feel about it.

 **J** : …so?

 **Aziz** : I want to figure it out. Mom and dad think we’re friends, and I don’t want to disappoint them. Do you?

 **J** : This would disappoint them?

 **Aziz** : YES

 **Aziz** : they think I resent you

 **J** : You do. But you’re being nice anyway so I don’t see the problem here

 **Aziz** : Ugghhhh they want us to get along and you have a horrible idea of what that means

 **J** : okay, fine. do you wanna meet on the tourney field after dinner? We can work on your tackle

 **Aziz** : sure?


	4. Dear Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I decided to go ahead and skim some of the books, and I suddenly realized that I hadn't addressed Jay and Jafar, and I had to let some stuff settle in my head before I posted it.  
> There are now some references to the first Descendants novel, "isle of the lost" but it probably won't affect anything too much.

**To** : [mal.of.the.isle@auradon.edu](mailto:mal.of.the.isle@auradon.edu)

 **From** : [sultana.jasmine@agrabah.gov](mailto:sultana.jasmine@agrabah.gov)

 **Subject** : RE: Announcements???

Hi Mal,

We haven’t had a chance to discuss it yet, but we were hoping to put it off until he was more comfortable. Genie’s been keeping an eye out on any tabloids that might have found the story, but no one has tried to publish anything about it yet. I’m sure Ben and Fairy Godmother are doing the same.

The plan, once Jay has agreed, is to announce it at a press conference that we found him. Traditionally, we would have a ball to celebrate, and there are also decisions to be made about whether he will be taking the mantle of Crown Prince given that he’s the oldest, even though Aziz has held the title until now.

I’ll ask him soon. Do you have any suggestions?

Best wishes,

Jasmine

**To** : [princess.evie@auradon.edu](mailto:princess.evie@auradon.edu)

 **From** : [sultana.jasmine@agrabah.gov](mailto:sultana.jasmine@agrabah.gov)

 **Subject** : Pictures as promised!

Hi Evie!

Sorry these took so long to get.

Attachment: Jay_Photos.zip; Agrabah_Photos.zip

Best wishes,

Jasmine

**_Jasmine’s Phone_ **

**_4:55 PM_ **

**Evie** : OMG

 **Evie** : OMG

 **Evie** : These are the cutest things I have ever seen and I may die

 **Jasmine** : I know! He was such a cute baby.

 **Evie** : Sooooo cuuuuuuuttttte

 **Evie** : Even Mal is admitting that it’s the cutest thing ever.

 **Evie** : that might be to annoy Jay, but he’s actually excited to see them too.

 **Jasmine** : Is he? I thought he might be upset about it. He said I could send them, but I wasn’t entirely sure.

 **Evie** : No, he’s really happy.

 **Evie** : He just asked me to forward the file to him too.

 **Evie** : I think he wants to keep a few of them for himself.

 **Jasmine** : I’m sorry I don’t have more for you.

 **Evie** : Hey, no, this is more than enough! I don’t have any of me. It’s a tragedy really. I’m sure I was an adorable baby.

 **Jasmine** : Really?

 **Evie** : Um, of course I would have been an adorable baby.

 **Evie** : Oh! You meant the baby pictures.

 **Jasmine** : no, no. sorry I wasn’t thinking

 **Jasmine** : forget I said anything

 **Evie** : …

 **Evie** : No, it’s okay. I understand.

 **Evie** : People at school forget about the Isle all the time.

 **Jasmine** : it doesn’t excuse it.

 **Evie** :

 **Evie:** by the way

 **Evie** : We heard about the barges to the isle last week.

 **Evie** : And that you were involved.

 **Evie** : Thank you.

 **Jasmine** : You’re welcome.

 **Jasmine** : I hope you don’t think we did it just because of Jay.

 **Evie** : We don’t.

Dear Jasmine, ~~~~

Hanging out with you at the embassy the other day was really great! I still can’t get over the face Aladdin made when you beat him at cards. Also, even if Aziz isn’t a thief, he is some kinda con man.

I mean, that entire thing with the jacket was something straight out of the isle. I mean, I agree now that it was for my own good, but he shouldn’t have been able to get that close to me without me realizing he was up to something. Seriously, I was almost impressed once I was done getting ready to kill him.

It was really cool hanging out with Aladdin the other day, too. I’m sure he told you all about it after I went back to school, but I was still really surprised at how much we had in common. I guess I kinda expected that he wasn’t really a thief, at least not since he met you. Like we’ve talked about it in letters how he and his dad and me are all thieves, but he’s royalty now. Why would he need to steal? Even if he’d grown up as a street rat, he has to be out of practice by now, right? And then he catches me lifting someone’s watch like I’m an amateur and replaces it without anyone ever being caught.

Seriously! Is pickpocketing actually something he does as captain of the guards? Because that would be rad as hell.

Less surprised about the continuing jumping around roofs, but that was fun too.

I also got a chance to ask about Zena and Cassim, and I was a little surprised to hear about Mozenrath, but you were right. It was good to hear stories about them from him, and I think he liked telling me about them too.

I’m sorry about Abu and Rajah then, but it’s still cool that they were such good animals, and that you cared for them properly (Seriously, one of the reasons I asked was because Carlos was worried, and he’s smiling like a dope now that he knows). Carlos has Dude, of course, which isn’t as cool as a Tiger, but that little dog has a killer bite on him! I had some eels as pets back on the isle, but I think it’d be neat to have an animal sidekick here too. Maybe. Or maybe I can just keep borrowing Dude from Carlos.

The other kids at school are alright. I hang with Jordan and Li Lonnie a lot, but I still spend the most time with Mal and Carlos and Evie. Sometimes Ben when he isn’t busy with school or running the country. It’s not that I don’t want to be friends with anyone else, but I’ve already got my hands full with these weirdos : P

About Jafar, you can ask about him. I’m not sure I want to talk about him right now, but you can ask.

Growing up with him was ~~okay~~ ~~shit~~ normal. At least what I think of as normal. I don’t really have anything ‘good’ to compare it to. Looking back, I thought I was lucky. I mean, I didn’t really get to eat every day, but neither did anyone else I knew. ~~Maybe I was a little upset that I didn’t have a real bed but~~ Jafar didn’t hit me like some other parents did, ~~even if he did threaten to if~~ and for the most part, if we weren’t talking about the hauls I brought into the shop, he ignored me.

~~I guess now I know why. There were some times, though…~~

~~I thought he cared. I know it’s stupid when he only took care of me for the stuff I stole, but a tiny part of me thought so anyway. He didn’t call me weak like Mal’s mom did, or bully me like Carlos and Evie’s mom did. And I thought that meant something.~~

It’s been weird since we got here, ya know? Back on the isle, we were all proud to be our parents kids, no matter how washed up they were. We were the baddest of the bad and we were going to make them proud, but…I’m not really sure why anymore. ~~~~

~~And then we find out~~

~~What was the fucking point of~~

He only told me a little about my ‘mom’. He told me she was a prostitute, and that she dumped me on him when I was a baby. Sooooooooo ~~Upgrade?~~ With everything that I know now, it was probably the easiest way to keep me from asking questions.

~~After he told me about her, there were a few weeks where I thought hoped wondered if someone else was my dad. But even if there was, it still had to have been someone on the isle, so it wouldn’t have been any better. Considering she wasn’t real~~

As far as family went, my friends were close enough, once we’d actually decided we were friends of course. There was this quest and…we can tell you about it next time we see each other, but before that, Mal and I were kind of in a gang together, but neither of us would have called each other friends. Carlos was a weird little nerd, so Mal and I picked on him, and Mal just legit hated Evie.

I’m honestly not used to talking about people like I actually like them, but even I can say that they were the best thing that ever happened to me on the isle. For all that our parents told us that friends were pointless or that caring for someone was a weakness, things just…they were better. Even before the quest, Mal would always share her food, since Maleficent got more than her share of it. It was really cool of her, and she never really complained when I stopped by her place super late at night. Plus there was the entire gang thing. We were jerks to everyone, but only we were allowed to be jerks to each other, which meant she kept me out of trouble more often than I would like to admit. And of course, it was also fun to mess with people at school together.

Once Carlos stopped being one of the people we picked on, I had someone else that would crawl around on top of buildings with me, which turned out to be better than by myself. I never would’ve thought it with how nervous he was all the time ~~, but he had his reasons. I’m pretty sure I was one of those reasons, but also his mom.~~ Oh! And he actually had a working video game for a little while when we were on the isle too. It was so rad and he put it together from scraps! ~~I maybe feel a little bad for picking on him for so long, but…~~ He’s still a weird little nerd, but that maybe isn’t a bad thing.

With Evie it was kind of weird, at least for me. I didn’t think I had anything in common with her. She’s really into clothes and makeup, and she was also castleschooled for ten years, so she was weirdly nice for someone from the isle. Although, now, I honestly think it’s better that way now, considering how easy she makes friends. It’s really hard to not like her, TBH. Back home, we thought that was because she’d aced tests on manipulation and falsehood, but I’m pretty sure that’s just how she is. She just likes people and likes to help them. And also dress them. Ask her about her clothing line when you see her next, I’m sure you’ll love it.

…That got long, and so I’m gonna go ahead and stop now.

Talk to you later,

Jay

**To** : [sultana.jasmine@agrabah.gov](mailto:sultana.jasmine@agrabah.gov)

 **From** : [mal.of.the.isle@auradon.edu](mailto:mal.of.the.isle@auradon.edu)

 **Subject** : RE: Announcements???

Hi Jasmine,

You should probably hold off on the Crown Prince discussion for a little while, TBH. I’m having a hard enough time with that dating Ben, and I don’t even think it’s crossed Jay’s mind that he would still be considered for a royal title.

I’m more worried about the tabloids. An unplanned announcement would be the worst. We’re gonna do some damage control here, but please let us know if the tabloids do anything unexpected.

-Mal

**_Evie’s Phone_ **

**_2:47 PM_ **

**Queen Mal** : We have to do some damage control. Can you guys meet me after school?

 **Better-Than-A-Prince Doug** : Yeah, Evie and I were gonna go to the library to study, but we can put it off if it’s important

 **Queen Mal** : It is.

 **Princess Evie** : ? What are we dealing with?

 **Queen Mal** : Jasmine wants to wait to release the news, but we’re already getting questions

 **Queen Mal** : Jordan’s been keeping quiet

 **Queen Mal** : @Doug, the band-dwarves were the only other group of students there the day everyone found out and I don’t know what they think happened

 **Queen Mal** : then we need to figure out how we’re going to deal with the gossip

 **King Ben** : I’ve got a meeting to attend, but I’ve got a few members of my press team handling the news.

 **King Ben** : I don’t think any of us can help with the gossip though

 **Queen Mal** : then who can???????????

**_Audrey’s Phone_ **

**_3:18 PM_ **

**Unknown Number** : I need a favor

 **Aud** : Who is this?

 **Aud** : How did you get my number?

 **Unknown Number** : It’s Mal.

 **Unknown Number** : I got it from Ben.

 **Unknown Number** : Are you willing to help or not?

**_Boyfriend Stealer has been added to contacts_ **

**Aud** : I don’t see why I should.

 **Aud** : Or why you would even ask me.

 **Boyfriend Stealer** : It’s a matter of royal propriety

 **Boyfriend Stealer** : You’re one of the biggest snobs in school about titles and you always know what everyone is gossiping about

 **Boyfriend Stealer** : Which is exactly what I need right now.

 **Aud** :

 **Aud** :

 **Aud** : I’m intrigued.

 **Aud** : What do you need assistance with?

 **Boyfriend Stealer** : Meet me in the library after class?

 **Aud** : I’ll see you there.

**_Aladdin’s Phone_ **

**_12:25 PM_ **

**Jay** : Hey, mind if I come over after school?

 **Aladdin** : Of course not, Want me to send Carpet?

 **Jay** : sure

 **Jay** : Aziz is coming too

 **Aladdin** : the more the merrier

Dear Jay,

Sorry about how long it took me to respond! It took me a while ~~to decide what to say about~~ ~~to recover~~ to actually sit down.

I’m glad you enjoyed the embassy so much! Remember you can come by at any time. We’ve got plenty of other games, or I have more of my mother’s stories.

And sorry again about the jacket. I can’t apologize enough for that, even if Aziz did have your best interests at heart. He doesn’t really think about ~~how much things cost about~~ ~~how his decisions affect~~ how upset people might get. Are you sure the two of you are okay?

Aladdin tried to keep your afternoon to himself for a bit, but yes, he eventually told me all about it. The mother in me wants to chide the both of you for all the trouble you caused! Thank goodness that Carpet was there to pull you out or I just don’t know what Fairy Godmother would have said. At the same time, though, I’m really glad the both of you had a good time. It’s true that he’s not a thief anymore, but from what he tells me, it never goes away.

He does still pickpocket people when he’s at work, although it’s not exactly one of his duties. Since pickpocketing is such a common crime around here, he tries to make sure all the other guards know how pickpockets operate, and pickpocketing them himself keeps them on their toes.

That’s his excuse at least.

Regarding everything you said about Jafar…

I’m so sorry about the situation you grew up in. That royal families like us allowed you to grow up in. ~~The fact that he didn’t hit you~~ None of that should have been normal. ~~We should have found you~~ There should have been more food provided ~~, and abuse is~~ You deserved so much better, and I can’t help but feel like it’s our fault. Jafar was the villain, but we should have protected you more, and just because he didn’t hit you doesn’t make neglect acceptable.

~~Please forgive us for~~

~~I’m sorr~~

~~I~~

You and your friends shouldn’t have grown up like that. But now that we know about it, hopefully we can make amends, and try to fix what we broke.

And I’m so ~~glad~~ thankful you found your friends.

They all care about you so much, and I would love to hear more about that quest next time we see all of you. I hope they’re all doing well right now, and I know I’ve told you a dozen times that you can ask us for anything if you need it, but I hope we made it clear that the offer extends to them too.

~~Anything we can do~~

Remember we love you so much, and we’re so-so-so proud.

With love,

Jasmine

PS: I…Don’t know what to say about Jafar telling you your mother was a prostitute. I promise I read that section, but…

~~I’m glad no one ever stepped in to fill my place. As cruel as it is for you to have grown up without any mother at all and only Jafar, I’m glad there’s no one else out there that could be your mother but me.~~

_I need help – J_

_Are you okay? – L_

_Not really. No. You’re the only person I know that’s good at moms and also swords and I need help – J_

_Okay??? – L_

_Can you meet me in the gym later? I need to fight someone who’s good enough that I won’t hurt them, and then I’ll explain about the mom thing – J_

_I’ll be there. – L_

**_Mal’s Phone_ **

**_9:34 AM_ **

**E** : Okay, what was that about?

 **C** : IDK, he’s been acting like that all morning.

 **M** : Did something happen last night?

 **C** : No, not that he told me

 **C** : He seemed fine when he came back to the room 

**C:** He looked like he had a good time

 **M** : there had to be something

**C:**

**C** : Actually. I think he got another letter.

 **C** : It came in while he was gone

 **C** : I went to sleep before he read it.

 **E** : Oh no…

 **M** : Can you get us that letter?

 **C** : Yeah, I’ll grab it at lunch.

**_1:15 PM_ **

**C** : Letter found and read and I totally get why he’s angry.

 **M** : I can’t believe her! They promised they wouldn’t say anything to hurt him!

 **C** : They didn’t!

 **C** : Wait before you say anything to them

 **C** : I’ll show it to you later.

**_Audrey’s Phone_ **

**_3:15 PM_ **

**_Boyfriend Stealer changed to Co-Conspirator in contacts_ **

**Aud** : Update: Phin and Uther bought the rumor about Jay giving Aziz private tourney lessons. Willow didn’t, but she did believe the one about you all getting replaced by sand golems drawn to Aziz because he’s from the desert. She promised not to spread it around, but those will be the two main rumors you hear around campus. I’ll let you know if I hear anyone blabbing.

 **Co-Conspirator:** Thanks

 **Co-Conspirator** : You were actually more on board with this than I thought you would be.

 **Aud** : Um, hello? A lost crown prince? On the Isle of the Lost???

 **Aud** : I am not letting this come out in some trashy tabloid!

 **Aud** : Sultana Jasmine is a classy woman and deserves to handle this professionally and on her terms.

 **Aud** : And you better get me an invite to the ball.

 **Co-Conspirator** : still. Thanks. It’s a big favor to me and Jay too. I know we’re not your favorite people.

 **Aud** : Well.

 **Aud** : You maybe aren’t that bad.

 **Aud** : Speaking of which, do you want me to handle whatever they’re going to say about the fit Jay was throwing today?

 **Co-Conspirator** : No.

 **Co-Conspirator** : And it wasn’t a fit.

 **Co-Conspirator** : Just let me know what they’re saying about him.

 **Aud** : Will do.

**_4:30 PM_ **

**Aud** : <1 Video attached>

 **Aud** : So what was that about him not throwing a fit?

 **Mal** : for hell's sake

 **Aud** : I hope you have a plan to get those mats fixed before FG finds out

**_Groupchat_ **

**_7:41 PM_ **

**M** : soooooooooooooooooooooo

 **M** : Whats with the cookies?

 **J** : does there have to be a reason for cookies?

 **E** : yes, considering you were making them with Lonnie all afternoon, and we know that cookies are Lonnie’s comfort food

 **C** : you left your letter out

 **J** : oh come on

 **M** : I regret nothing.

 **C** : also, mind explaining the destroyed mats in the gym

 **J** : How do you even know about that?!?!

 **E** : It’s all over InstaRoyal rn

 **E** : Not with your name on it, of course

 **M** : Audrey maybe got a video of you and Lonnie sparring on top of the destroyed mats

 **J** : damn it

 **M** : she only shared it with me, if that helps.

 **M** : she might be aware of the situation now.

 **J** : what, why?

 **M** : people have been asking questions. We didn’t think you’d want people to know yet, and Audrey’s surprisingly sympathetic about the entire thing. She's helping keep it quiet.

 **E** : Royal families are supposed to be the ones to announce when lost heirs are found, and the idea of the paparazzi getting to it first disgusts her.

 **J** : Oh.

 **J** : Well, FYI, Lonnie knows too, now.

 **C** : We guessed as much

 **C** : so? What’s up?

 **J** : Look, Lonnie is one of the only people I know that has a good relationship with her mom. I needed to ask how to deal with…mom feelings. Once I told her about the letter and everything, she decided we were going to make cookies.

 **E** : did they help?

 **J** : Eh. It helped more hearing about Mulan. Lonnie told me stories while we made them. Caring parents still kind of confuse me, but it makes more sense than it did before.

 **C** : And the swords?

 **M** : ?

 **M** : ?

 **J** : .

 **J** : it’s finally settling in that she’s actually my mom I guess. And that Jafar isn’t actually my dad.

 **J** : I didn’t think I’d care about that. But apparently I do.

 **J** : so swords.

 **M** :

 **E** :

 **C** :

 **E** : oh

 **C** : Leaving robotics club now, everyone meet in our room?

 **M** : BRT

 **J** : Guys, no.

 **E** : I’ll bring cookies

 **M** : Should I bring my spell book? Is this a “lets get revenge” meeting or “we have to settle for no revenge and now feelings” meeting?

 **C** : both?

 **E** : both

 **J** : guys, it’s fine

 **M** : Nope, and you better be there when I get there.

 **E** : I’m also gonna stop by the kitchen for milk.

 **J** :

 **J** : lol, okay, okay. See you in a bit.

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_8:12 AM_ **

**L** : Did you send the letter?

 **J** : no

 **L** : You should.

 **J** : it sounds like I’m angry.

 **L** : You *are* angry.

 **L** : It’s okay, Jay.

 **J** : how is it okay???

 **L** : Jasmine just wants you to be honest, and you aren’t angry at her. She won’t stop writing because you’re upset about what Jafar did. She’s upset about it too and I promise you she wants to know how you feel. That’s how moms are. At least how they’re supposed to be.

 **J** : I don’t know…

 **L** : She’s your mom. It’ll be okay.

Dear Jasmine,

~~I’m really glad I didn’t find your letter until after I left the~~

So, I hope you guys like chocolate chip cookies. My friend Lonnie likes making them ~~when she’s sad and after I read the last letter~~ and I decided to help her make a few batches. We wound up having way too many, so I thought I’d send some with this letter.

That game the other day was really fun. We should play it again next time I’m over. And, as you could tell when I gracefully lost to Aziz, we’re definitely doing just fine. ~~Even if he was being a little sneak.~~ We’ve been playing tourney together more often. Apparently there’s a rumor going around that I’m doing private tourney training? A couple guys asked after class earlier today if I’d do the same for them and I was super confused.

We’ve got some exams coming up, and I’m kind of dreading it. We’re probably going to be studying all weekend, which is lame, but hopefully it won’t be too bad, and either way, I’ll get to hang out with the other isle kids. Hopefully it won’t all just be studying. I went ahead and reminded them about your offer to help if needed, and they said “Thank you”. We’ll let you know.

~~About~~

~~You didn’t~~

~~Please don’t apologize for~~

~~This is~~

About everything else you wrote about, its not your fault.

Not me growing up on the isle and not the isle being a dump.

Did you know that Ben told us about you before we found out you were my parents? Before the coronation, when the press was still upset about us, he mentioned you and Aladdin visited the capitol. He said that while everyone else was screaming about whether or not we were too dangerous to stay here, that you had demanded to know why there were children on the Isle in the first place; why they had let their worst enemies raise children and weren’t brought here, or at least why the food sent to the Isle didn’t account for the extra mouths.

It took a while for him to explain to us how Agrabah participates in politics when theres a desert between you and Auradon. I maybe agree you should have checked in, but I don’t blame you for not knowing we were there. I’ve been in Auradon long enough to see how people around here choose to forget we exist. But as soon as you guys found out we were there, you tried to fix it.

And you’re right about Jafar being the villain when it comes to what happened to me. It was shit and I don’t know what you did before, during, or after I was taken. But I do know that the literal second you found out where I was you came running. I find it really hard to believe that you didn’t do everything you could to find me ~~, so please don’t tell me you’re sorry. Just…you tried and that’s more~~

You didnt lose me. He took me. There’s a difference. It was him. ~~Everything I went through and everything you two went through and the fact that I didn’t get to know this is what parents were like until~~

~~My dad~~

~~He ruined~~

~~And while~~ there might still be some stupid part of my brain that thinks Jafar is my dad, but I want you to know that I’m happy to find out he’s not. That he’s not my dad and that my mom isn’t a prostitute. You guys care. You care so much about me and my friends and about a ton of kids you’ve never met ~~and it’s weird and uncomfortable but~~ Aladdin gets me and the stealing and you write me these letters and you pay attention.

I’ve known you for three weeks and as weird as I think it is that you care it’s ~~everything I wished~~ what we deserved. You say that we deserved to not live with parents who hit us or didnt feed us or just flat out neglected us. Youre right. Even if we thought it was normal, we know youre right, but I don’t think I understood until I got to know you.

At this point, even if it was somehow your fault, I don’t think I could be angry about it. Not since you came to find me and have done so much to just talk to me.

And after that heavy stuff I’m going to bed.

Enjoy the cookies,

Jay

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_9:10 PM_ **

**Aladdin** : So, I might be reading over Jasmine’s shoulder. I can’t write like she does, and I know she’s said it before, but we’re so proud of you and happy to have you back. Love you, kid.

 **J:** ~~love you too~~

 **J** : Happy to have you back too


	5. @friends

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_9:45 PM_ **

**J** : hey, I need to talk to you

 **Aziz** : ??? It’s almost curfew

 **J** : it’s important

 **J** : do you have a roommate?

 **Aziz** : Yes

 **J** : can you come to me and Carlos’s room then?

 **Aziz** : What’s so important that I’m going to risk detention???

 **J** :

 **J** :

 **J** : ~~I need you to tell me about what~~

 **J** :

 **J** : What happened with mom and dad when I disappeared?

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** : what?

 **J** : What happened to Aladdin and Jasmine when I disappeared? You told me you hate me, but I don’t know what for aside from that I’m your brother. ~~Just…~~ I want to know what happened.

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** :

 **J:** ?

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** : I don’t know

 **Aziz** : ~~It happened on the night before I was born. The shock sent mom into early labor so your timing really sucked~~

 **Aziz** : I was way too little to remember

 **Aziz** : they don’t talk about it if they don’t have to

 **Aziz** : and grandfather won’t tell me anything about it

 **Aziz** : ~~I don’t know why they treat it like a state secret~~

 **Aziz** : We don’t mourn you going missing like they used to for Queen Rapunzel, with a ceremony or something either. Honestly I think they were convinced you weren’t coming back anyway.

 **Aziz** : they declared me crown prince when I was five. I don’t know if you were mentioned in the announcement ~~considering I was taking it away from you~~. ~~~~

**Aziz** : But on your birthday and on the day you went missing ~~, so my birthday basically~~ , they both take a day off to spend with me and Isra. They’re always trying to be as happy as they can, but when we go to bed they pull out your photo album, and they don’t sleep. ~~~~

**Aziz** : that’s it

 **Aziz** : that’s all I know

 **J** : okay. Thanks

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** : ~~Don’t~~

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** :

~~Dear Jay,~~

~~Thank you for the cookies –~~

~~I’m glad you liked the game –~~

~~This wasn’t~~ –

Dear Jay,

In the first letter you sent me, you told me that you weren’t sure what to say, and while I said that was okay, I never told you that I ~~didn’t~~ don’t know what to say either. I just wanted to talk to you about something, to get to know you. I didn’t mean to dredge up bad memories for either of us.

I know you say it’s not our fault, and while I agree with you logically, I’m still your mother. Protecting you is our job, and just because someone else did this to us, it doesn’t mean I don’t still feel guilty. But I also never wanted you to take on the burden for our guilt. You were hurt in all of this too, probably more than any of the rest of us. You shouldn’t have to feel like you need to make me feel better. 

But I also realize that maybe we need to talk about these things, too. I needed to know what your life was like with Jafar, which unfortunately led us down this road. And, since we’ve made it this far, would you like for us to tell you what happened? It’s hard for me to talk about, and it might be hard for you to hear, but if you ask, I’ll answer.

There’s another topic I’ve been avoiding as well. I want us to be a family, but it comes with expectations I don’t control. The more people see you with us, the more questions will be asked, and eventually, your heritage will come out. We promised not to pressure you into anything, but it still stands that you’re the eldest prince of Agrabah. There are duties implied with that, and attention from the press and ~~bullshit rules~~ a lot of other stuff.

In the tradition of lost royal heirs, we would announce that you had returned, and then we would have a ball to celebrate. We absolutely will not do so unless you tell us it’s okay. But, if we don’t announce it, then we’ll have to worry about tabloids and paparazzi reporters announcing it first. Having them announce it without us contributing would be a nightmare ~~, probably be called a _scandal_ since you~~, so if you don’t want to make it public, we’ll have to find another reason for you to continue spending time with us and Aziz like you have been. Mal and your friends have been working to keep it quiet at school. It’s probably where that private training rumor came from.

If you choose to take your title, what duties you take on as prince are yours to decide. As eldest, you would (traditionally) be Crown Prince, and inherit the throne one day. Since Aziz was already made my successor, it’s a little more complicated, but it also offers you the freedom to turn it down if you want.

Based on this, what do you think? Would you like to go ahead with the announcement, or forget it altogether?

Now, I’m going to try and turn back to pleasant things. I just don’t want this letter to be nothing but gloom and business. You can see that Isra sent you pictures! Her tutor said that he’s been trying to sit her down to write an actual letter, but she insisted on drawing something for you instead. He also sent me pictures of her with the elephants from a few weeks ago. They’re really cute, and I think you would like to see them, so let me know and I’ll email them.

The cookies are wonderful, my compliments on them to you and Lonnie! I wish I could send something in return, but I’m afraid I’m a terrible cook. One of the downsides to being raised a princess, I suppose. I live in the lap of luxury, but now I can hardly take care of myself without the palace staff.

I went ahead and texted Evie that we would be at your game on Friday, and we’re very excited to see you all again. Maybe I can hear your story about the quest afterwards. Would you like to go out again, or would you be interested in coming back to the embassy for something here? We can ask Ms. Hafsa to make the chicken you liked so much last week, or maybe something else from Agrabah, if you’d all like to try more of our traditional food.

I’ll talk to you soon.

Love,

Jasmine

**_Groupchat_ **

**_10:03 AM_ **

**J** : Have you guys been spreading rumors for me?

 **M** : Yep

 **E** : Sorry! You were busy.

 **C** : Audrey and Doug helped!

 **J** : Cool. I like the tourney training one. I don’t know what I would have said if someone had asked me first.

 **J** : Seriously though, did Jasmine tell you about the announcement thing???

 **M** : Yep

 **E** : YES!!! It’s so exciting! Have you decided if you’re going to do it?

 **J** : idk, it’s kind of a lot.

 **J** : I’ve got enough going on right now without a crown

 **J** : turban

 **J** : ugggggg I don’t even know about my own country’s status symbols

 **J** : I really don’t think I can be a prince yet

 **E** : hey! Don’t worry, we’ll get you caught up before it happens.

 **C** : raincheck? We’ve got math is magic to study for

 **J** : agreed. I’ll worry about royalty after I’ve passed geography and trig

**__ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ **

_Any chance you can explain the geography of the Seven Deserts without putting me to sleep? I’ve got a test on Friday – Mal_

**_A_ **

_Nope, when cramming for royalty, I chose between not-knowing-where-things-are and not-embarrassing-myself-at-dinner. Geography did not win. Jordan should be able to help, though – Aladdin_

**__ _ A _ _ _ __ ** **___ **

_Haven’t had a chance to see her lately, but I’ll try to track her down. BTW, you guys are still coming to the game on Friday, right? – M_

_E_

_We’ll be there. I thought it was next week? – A_

**__ _ A _ _ _ _ _ o_ **

_Nope, but Jay might’ve forgotten to mention it. He was kinda all over the place for the last week. We spent basically all weekend cramming for a test this morning, so I wouldn’t be surprised – M_

**_I_ **

_The geography test? – A_

**__ _ A _ _ _ _ _ o|_ **

_Yep, and we’ve got a math test that day too. And despite math being truly evil, Carlos is the only one of us that’s good at it. – M_

**_O_ **

_Its times like these that I’m glad I didn’t go to school. I’m perfectly fine with calculating money, but never had to worry about trigonometry. If you ever want to talk law or ethics, I’ve got you, but never math. Good luck. – A_

**__ _ A _ _ _ O _ o|_ **

_You didn’t go to school? – M_

**_U_ **

_Nope. Street rat. Did you guys have school on the isle? – A_

**__ _ A _ _ _ O U o|_ **

_Yeah, a lot of the villains thought it was important. It’s not exactly like Auradon High, but we learned to read and write, math too of course, and Carlos got in some mad-science. I was surprised by how unbiased the history we learned was, once we got here. I thought they would have toned down their failures, but you tell basically the same stories they do. – M_

**_Y_ **

_That’s good at least. Anything else going on at school? I heard you guys were doing damage control. – A_

**__ _ A _ _ Y O U o|_ **

_Yeah, just trying to keep the gossip down until Jay figures out about the entire prince thing. Have you talked to him at all about it? – M_

**_D_ **

_No, Jasmine wanted to mention it last week, but it wasn’t really the right time. Do you think he’ll be okay with it? – A_

**__ _ A _ _ Y O U o|-_ **

_Eventually. I think he can handle it, but it’s going to take some time to adjust, ya know? – M_

**_T_ **

_Yeah, I totally get it, just…hoping not to stress him out too much. – A_

**_T _ A _ _ Y O U o|-_ **

_He’ll be fine, I promise. Even with all the confusion, he’s been really happy to get to know you guys. I don’t think he’s gonna get scared off by the prospect of royalty – M_

**_H_ **

_I hope so. We’re really glad to get to know him too. Are we holding up our promise, in your eyes? (And Evie and Carlos, of course) – A_

**_T H A _ _ Y O U o|-_ **

_More than we expected. There’ve been some emotions that none of us enjoy, but it wasn’t you guys. We’re really happy for him. – M_

**_K_ **

_I’m glad, and hey, if you guys ever need anything, Jaz and I are happy to help, though I’m sure you’re all sick of us offering. I know you’ve got Ben, and all of your other friends at school, but you guys have been really good friends to Jay. Basically family, from what I hear. It means a lot to us. – A_

**_T H A _ K Y O U o|-_ **

_We know. We’re just not sure what to ask for, I guess? OH THANK GOD THEY’RE FINISHED – M_

**_Aziz’s Phone_ **

**_4:15 PM_ **

**Jay** : yo, we still on to practice tonight?

 **Aziz** : ~~sorry something else~~

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** : ~~it’s not a~~

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** : I don’t think it’s a good idea right now

 **Jay** : k

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** : ~~sorry~~

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** :

 **Aziz** : Can we move it to tomorrow though?

 **Jay** :

 **Jay** : You sure?

 **Aziz** : ~~Not really~~

 **Aziz** : Yeah

**_Mal’s Phone_ **

**_5:01 PM_ **

**Princess Priss** : OMG ROFL XD

 **M** : ????

 **M** : I don’t understand

 **Princess Priss** : Seriously? Jeez, it’s just text chat

 **Princess Priss** : anyway, I’m dying rn.

 **Princess Priss** : we’ve got three new rumors on the block

 **Princess Priss** : I’ll get rid of them all, but they are:

 **Princess Priss** : 1. Jay made fun of Jane and she spelled him to work with his father’s arch nemesis’s son as revenge. She’s basically crying thinking that people think she would do magic on someone for that.

 **Princess Priss** : 2. Jay and Jordan are fighting again and Jay’s trying to get Aziz to fix it for him

 **Princess Priss** : 3. Aziz is sweet talking Jay so he can get him a date with Evie

 **M** : oh gross

 **Princess Priss** : I KNOW IT’S GREAT!!! Adreata is so upset! Romantic gossip is the best kind of gossip!

 **M** : that’s even worse. kill it with fire before I hear it from someone other than you.

 **M** Also, don’t kill the one with Jordan; they might actually be fighting

 **Princess Priss** : We’ll see

 **M** : and I can’t believe you’re letting Jane get upset about this. Isn’t that something one of us would do?

 **Princess Priss** : OMG, no. Just because I think it’s funny, doesn’t mean I’m heartless.

 **Princess Priss** : I’m getting rid of the rumor, remember

 **Princess Priss** : Jeez, we’re doing a good job if they’re getting this ridiculous

 **Princess Priss** : I thought you’d be pleased

 **M** :

 **M** : ~~I mean…~~

 **M** : I’ll get back to you on that

Dear Jasmine,

You’re doing way better than I am finding things to talk about. TBH, there’s a lot of things that I just think will be silly to talk to the Sultana of Agrabah about, whether you’re my mom or not. Like, this stupid joke Carlos told me about a beagle last week, or Evie braiding my hair. Or there are things I want to talk about but maybe I shouldn’t. The Isle, I mean. It’s not home anymore, but it was for a really long time. ~~There are people and things. Neither of which you would know, but I keep thinking about them anyway. Of course, how would you know if I don’t tell you? But why would you want to know?~~

And maybe we do need to talk about that stuff.

I don’t want to upset you, but…I want to know more about what happened that night. ~~I asked Aziz what he knew about it, and he said he didn’t know much. What he did know was kind of…~~

Evie’s telling me I should wait to ask about it in person. Like, we should talk face to face, but I’m not sure I can handle that yet. I don’t want to see you upset, and I’m not sure that I won’t get upset while we’re at it. ~~Jafar hurt~~ I know I’m being a coward, but since I don’t want you to feel guiltier than you already do, and since you don’t want me to feel like comfort is my job, maybe it’s better this way. Just for now?

~~Someone called me Jafar’s son the other day. They were just teasing and I shouldn’t have cared, but I almost punc~~

I’m still taking in everything about the prince thing. I definitely don’t want to take the throne from Aziz! Ben’s job looks like the most stressful thing ever. ~~But I want to be a family too, and~~ But I do want to keep spending time with you and I don’t think we can do that if we don’t tell people why. ~~~~

I want to ask you not to make an announcement, but I also know what you mean about the press. There have been some ~~assholes~~ jerks in the papers writing about us a while back, especially about Mal. ~~We thought it was funny at fir~~ It’s the angriest I ever see Ben, actually, when someone else starts talking trash about her. He always manages to get them to apologize, but the damage is done by then.

But I’m still not sure that I’m ready to make that announcement right now. Can I have a little longer to get used to it? I’m still figuring out the whole family thing and don’t really want to add royalty on top of that.

If it makes it any better, when we do make the announcement, I definitely want to have a ball. Super stoked to see how Agrabah parties!

But yeah, lighter note: Isra’s pictures kinda started a thing in our dorm. Evie thought it was super sweet and hung them up in me and Carlos’s room, right? Then Audrey and Lonnie visited, and also thought it was super sweet, and Audrey insisted that I had to send something back to her for it.

The problem is, I can’t draw. Like. At all. I’m 100% muscle and charm and absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever. But I drew a picture anyway, and immediately Mal was like, “No, I’m not letting you embarrass us like this”, and everyone else started drawing too.

So basically, we’ve got a bunch of drawings to send to Isra, which is what the second envelope is for. Could you go ahead and forward them to her from us? Feel free to look through them first.

And please send the pictures of Isra with the elephants. Mal wants a reference photo of her “with a real smile and not a publicity smile.”

I’m glad you like the cookies, and Lonnie and I both say ‘you’re welcome’. I don’t really cook much on my own, since the cafeteria food is way better than anything I’ve ever been able to make. I seriously can’t believe that some of the other students here complain about it! The bread is always fresh and we nearly always have dessert. What is the problem???

But yeah, I do sometimes cook with my friends. Not often, considering Evie is terrible at it and Mal’s recipes all involve magic. Lonnie only bakes on specific occasions, so we don’t try her cooking much either. I think I’ll eventually have to learn to cook for myself, but that sounds like a bad idea.

Although I’ve also gotta ask. Like, you didn’t learn to cook, but Aladdin said that you already knew how to use poles and whips to jump around buildings when you met him. How the heck did that happen? Like, I thought baking was a princess thing so that would have made sense, but instead someone taught you to raid tombs? Who made that choice for your lesson plan and why are they not working at this school???

The game is gonna be great! Can’t wait to see you all there.

We’ll definitely tell you the story about the quest after! The others say they want to go back to the embassy, and Evie asked me to ask you (or Ms. Hafsa, I guess) to make your favorite meal instead. Or Aladdin’s, or Aziz’s. We’re okay with all of them, TBH. Its food.

See you all then,

Jay

**_Aziz’s Phone_ **

**_11:03 AM_ **

**Red** : Hey, you’ve been practicing tourney with Jay lately, right?

 **Aziz** : yes? Why?

 **Red** : Well…

 **Red** : ~~I heard it from Lina that he’s helping you get a date and I thought you and me~~

 **Red** : I don’t know, there are just a lot of rumors going around right now

 **Red** : like, apparently he’s been off campus a lot lately?

 **Red** : but then he’s baking cookies with Lonnie?

 **Red** : and someone thinks he’s actually a sand golem???

 **Red** : ~~and someone else thinks you’re trying~~

 **Red** : ~~You aren’t asking Evie out right?~~

 **Red** : ~~You wouldn’t pick a villain kid over me~~

 **Red** : ~~I don’t know why else you would spend so much time with him~~

 **Red** : it’s just real weird, isnt it?

 **Aziz** : oh come on, there’s no way that FG would let a golem into the school

 **Aziz** : And he’s tackled me. He’s not heavy enough to be made of sand

 **Red** : I don’t know, maybe him being a golem would explain the other weirdness

 **Aziz** : so does drugs

 **Red** :

 **Red** : OMG

 **Aziz** : wait no

**_Carlos’s Phone_ **

**_11:45 AM_ **

**Younger Prince Agrabah** : i messed up

 **Younger Prince Agrabah** : please help

 **Carlos** : ?

**_Groupchat_ **

**_3:11 PM_ **

**J** : okay sooooooooooooooo

 **J** : who started the rumor that I have a drug problem???

 **M** : who WHAT?

 **J** : coach pulled me out of practice to talk to me about the school drug policy and that if anyone else mentioned it I was gonna have to pee in a cup

 **J** : apparently someone on the team was “concerned”

 **J** : like, i think it would explain a lot if i *were* on drugs, but i also really dont want to get suspended from tourney

 **E** : it wasnt one of us!

 **M** : audrey says it wasnt her either

 **M** : omg I’m going to kill them when we find them

 **C** : so it wasnt me

 **C** : but I know who did

 **C** : and he’s very sorry and is trying to fix it

 **J** : ???

 **J** : oh.

 **J** : ohhhhhhhh.

 **J** : he’s dead.

**_Jasmine’s Phone_ **

**_7:45 PM_ **

**Evie** : Your sons are doofuses

 **Evie** : <2 pictures>

 **Jasmine** : Oh no! Are they okay???

 **Evie** : they’re fine

 **Evie** : Aziz said something stupid, and then hid on the roof and COMPLETELY forgot that Jay also has the roof climbing gene.

 **Evie** : then they were BOTH stupid and started wrestling and fell off the roof.

 **Evie** : mal made sure they landed on something soft, but you can see, they took a trellis and a birds nest down with them.

 **Evie** : FG says to expect the repair bill.

 **Jasmine** : okay, are they actually getting along or not? They both say they are, but then this happens and I just don’t know what to think

 **Evie** : lol, they’re fine. Jay and Carlos are like that all the time

 **Evie** : <1 picture>

 **Evie** : see?

 **Jasmine** : I will never understand teenage boys

 **Evie** : same

**_Aladdin’s Phone_ **

**_6:53 PM_ **

**Blue Man** : so I don’t want to keep bugging Jaz about it, but this guy is driving me batty

 **Blue Man** : are you two still planning to come home before I learn to echolocate and fly away?

 **Aladdin** : can we really not put it off any longer?

 **Blue Man** : I mean, if you’re okay with this trade deal going south, you can stay as long as you’d like, but the Pharaoh of the Snooty Desert won’t keep seeing me instead of Jaz

 **Blue Man** : and we did more than enough analysis to try to get out of it before now

 **Blue Man** : it would be a real waste of paper

 **Aladdin** : damn it

 **Aladdin** : sorry we’ll start making preparations

 **Blue Man** : hey, if it were up to me, all of us would be there for as long as you need to be for Jay, from here till eternity, I swear it

 **Blue Man** : and it’s killing me that I’m not there with you guys yet

 **Blue Man** : Seriously, I am way past ready to meet my godson

 **Blue Man** : but we got a job to do

 **Aladdin** : I know, I know…

 **Aladdin** : can he wait a week?

 **Blue Man** : I’ll get back to you on that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will never be as funny as the wonderful Robin Williams, and for that I apologize. Oh, also, in case I wasn't clear, Mal and Aladdin were playing hangman while passing notes back and forth during a meeting.


	6. @Genies

**_Aladdin’s Phone_ **

**_10:43 AM_ **

**Blue Man** : Good news! We’ve got til next Monday

 **Aladdin** : That’s good at least

 **Aladdin** : Jaz won’t be happy to hear it

 **Blue Man** : I wouldn’t either, but I’d also rather eat nails than have to keep dealing with this guy, so that isn’t saying much.

 **Blue Man** : But, since we’ve officially delayed negotiations, Pharoah McSnoot is going home until then, which means I am free as a bird

 **Blue Man** : mind if I crash dinner this weekend?

 **Aladdin** : Lol, you’re always welcome, you know that.

Dear Jay,

First things first, the attached package is a box of those dates that Carlos liked so much the other day. Ms. Hafsah was so pleased that you liked them that she went to the market and bought a bulk container for when you all visit again! She was very happy to have so many people appreciating her food.

Aladdin and I love all of the drawings you sent! I have to admit, none of you have the artistic prowess that Mal does, but I love them all anyway. Isra is sure to love the tiger that Carlos sent, and I’ll be sure to send them on and let you know what she says.

Please don’t feel like you have to rush making your decision about the announcement or not. We can certainly wait a bit longer, maybe even through summer if we’re careful.

That in mind, I don’t think the press can get too nasty with this, even if they do find out ahead of schedule. They can be awful, and I’m sure that they’ll try their hardest to spin it to sell papers, no matter whether it’s true or not. But considering how you’ve won over so many of your classmates, the people of Agrabah are sure to embrace you in the end as well. Especially if we have a party for it!

Oh dear, this letter is going to get very long if I have to explain about the whip, too. Short version, I taught myself how to use a whip. I was a bored princess who made questionable decisions. We can talk more about it next time you and your friends visit.

And it was wonderful for all of us seeing you all again on Friday! Your stories were all a riot. I still can’t believe that Mal and Evie would ever hate each other over a six-year-old’s birthday party, but even so, I’m glad it worked out in the end.

And please don’t ever think that anything is too silly to talk to me about! I’d love to hear about anything and everything, especially Evie braiding your hair, now that I’ve seen what she can do with a brush! That goes double for whatever you’d like to say about the isle. If it’s important to you, it’s important to me.

And, since I’ve said that, I suppose I’ve put off the story of your disappearance for long enough.

Part of me wants to agree with Evie an say that I should tell you this story in person. It’s important, almost too important to only write in a letter, but I also think that you’re right. If it’s going to be hard for us both, I don’t see anything cowardly about wanting to spare us the ~~pain~~ discomfort of doing so when maybe we’re not ready to have this conversation face to face. But you did ask, so here’s what happened:

You were 19 months old. No one in the palace could get enough time with you. If Aladdin or I were busy, then you were with Carpet, or Abu, or Rajah, or my father. Genie and Jordan spent a lot of time with you too, since you two were so close in age. Between the flock of people and animals and our guards, we didn’t think it was possible that anything could happen. It had been years since we’d had any villains attacking us, too. Everything was fine, and since I was pregnant with Aziz at the time, we were all focused on getting ready for the new baby to arrive.

But, one day, someone did attack. A tribe of marauders had gotten their hands on some roc feathers. It wasn’t anything major, and we’d dealt with the same thing before. But there were a lot more of them that time. I went to help my father gather our people within the palace while Aladdin and Genie and the guards apprehended them.

Abu and Rajah and Carpet were the ones we left with you for protection. For all intents and purposes, we trusted them more than we trusted the guards at the time. But when we got back to them, Abu was tied up in a sack, someone had weighed Carpet down so he couldn’t fly, and Rajah...

Rajah was old. Tigers don’t live much longer than 20 years, and I’d found him almost that long ago. He wasn’t as fast as he used to be, but he tried to stop the kidnappers anyway for my sake. They had to stab him to get away.

That was how we knew something was wrong, he’d been too busy with the chase to think to call for anyone, but when he was on the ground and in pain, he started roaring as loud as he could. It got lots of people’s attention, and eventually someone ran to get us. Your father was still outside the palace, dealing with the marauders, but my father and I went and found Rajah bleeding and crying in the courtyard. Then we found Carpet and Abu.

We didn’t find you.

The first thing I remember after that was waking up in the hospital. The shock from losing you sent me into an early labor, and my father stayed with me while your brother was born. Aladdin had gone with the guards to find you before whoever took you got out of Agrabah. It was days before I saw him again.

When he finally came back it wasn’t for long. He set up a guard around Aziz and I and then went back out to look for you. He searched for you everywhere. There was a manhunt in Agrabah, and we sent our people to search across all seven deserts. King Adam got Auradon involved. Genie and Mozenrath both exhausted every magical way they could think to locate you, and almost hurt themselves doing it.

No one even thought to check the Isle. We hadn’t sent anyone there in years, and Jafar had been there longer than almost anyone. ~~Why would we have though~~ ~~I’m still not sure he’s actually the one that took~~ ~~How could he have~~ ~~What if we had just looked one more place~~

Those first few months were a blur for me. My doctors said it was depression. Between being postpartum and having lost a son, I was in a very bad place. Aladdin was gone more often than not.

And Rajah was hurt. That’s one thing I remember clearly. Going to see Rajah. Genie had healed him from the actual wound, but it didn’t seem to be enough. He was old, and he was in so much pain. ~~He loved you too. I don’t think he could forgive himself for letting them get awa~~ I tried to keep myself together, but it was no use. It made everything that much worse when he died a few months later, and there was only so much grieving that I could take.

Once the initial shock passed, it turned out to be a good thing, I guess. I’d lost you, I’d lost Rajah…I wasn’t going to lose anything else. I hadn’t let Aziz out of my sight at that point, but I know I was absent in the ways that mattered, and that had to change.

Aladdin came next. After everything happened, he and I didn’t talk much, but the next time he came to the palace, I managed to stop him before he left again. I needed my husband back. And just like Aziz needed me to be his mother, he needed Aladdin to be his father.

I brought Aziz to him, and he didn’t know who Aladdin was when he tried to hold him, and that…well. Aladdin couldn’t bring himself leave after that. He and I finally started talking again. It turned out that he’d been afraid to see me, that I would blame him for losing you ~~, like he blamed himself. Like he still blames himself. He’s never stopped thinking about what he could have done differently.~~

By the sands we were a mess. We started grief counselling after that, even though the guards still kept looking for you for years afterwards. We just couldn’t stop hoping that someday we’d find you. But after it had been five years, we had to call it off. We finally had pulled ourselves together for Aziz, and I was about to take over as Sultana from my father. We were so sure that you were dead…

But then here you are.

~~I can’t help but wonder too, now. What if we had kept looking? What if we had just thought to check~~

We could hardly believe what we were hearing when Jordan called. After so long, how could this really be happening? I’d started crying by then, but Aladdin’s only response was to ask Genie to take us there, and he did. Then we were here, and Evie and Carlos were telling us to not talk to you, and that you didn’t want to see us. But then you and Aziz came up and…

You were there. You remember.

Thank you for giving us a chance. For a few seconds, it was like we’d lost you all over again. But you just wanted a little more time, and that was something we could give you as much as you wanted. I know it must be strange for you, but finding you alive and whole after all this time is the best feeling I can imagine.

 ~~I…~~ There are times when reading or writing these letters hurts. It’s nothing you’ve said of course, it’s not even the bad memories that come up sometimes, it’s that they need to be written in the first place. That I know so little about you, and that I’ve missed so much.

But no matter how much it might hurt or how hard it is to find the words, there’s nothing that I want more than to know you, no matter who you might end up being.

~~I’m going to miss you so much when we go home.~~

Oh, I’m sure this letter has more than enough for you to dwell on at this point, so I’ll end this here.

Talk to you soon. Love,

~~mom~~

Jasmine

**_Jordan’s Phone_ **

**_4:32 PM_ **

**Jay** : you didn’t tell me we knew each other before

 **JG** : we were babies, J. I wouldn’t even remember it if I were human

 **JG** and it’s not like I’ve had a chance to talk to you since this started

 **Jay** : yeah…I guess I haven’t been around much. Tho I haven’t really seen you around either

 **Jay** : ~~kinda thought you were avoiding m~~

 **JG** : ~~wasn’t sure you wanted to talk to me after~~

 **JG** : been busy

 **JG** : between my show and the Drama Sultan and studying I’ve mostly just been holed up in my lamp

 **Jay** : drama sultan?

 **JG** : Aziz

 **Jay** : okay, so he _is_ like that with everyone? Not just me?

 **JG** : I mean, it’s worse lately, but yeah, he’s always a little dramatic

 **JG** : I’m also the only person that he knows who also knows about you, so he’s been hanging at my place to avoid letting it out by accident

 **JG** : and also overthinking every single that’s happened this started and what he did wrong and what to do about it.

 **Jay** : He already apologized, why would he need to do anything?

 **JG** : Not for the stuff he wants to apologize for. He said something about you making weird faces when he apologized about the thing on the roof?

 **Jay** : It wasn’t a big deal! He hurt himself more than he did me! I wasn’t even upset about it, so why apologize?!

 **JG** : That’s what AK’s do, Jay, get used to it.

 **Jay** : Look, I’d probably be mad too if some stranger showed up with claims to my crown

 **Jay** : turban

 **Jay** : Whatever. Point being, I get it. I only found out about that part last week and we haven’t had a chance to talk about it yet.

 **Jay** : Once I’m no longer a threat, he’ll get over it

 **JG** :

 **JG** :

 **JG** : Jay, no.

 **JG** : This isn’t about the throne.

 **Jay** : what else would it be?

 **JG** :

 **JG** : so

 **JG** : it’s like

 **JG** :

 **JG** : ~~you know when little kids start throwing tantrums cuz there’s a new baby~~

 **JG** : ~~have you ever had something you really liked and suddenly had to share with~~

 **JG** : ~~so it used to be normal for royal families to want more than one son in case the first one died and he~~

 **JG** : ugh – on second thought, I’m just the god-sibling. You two can work it out yourselves.

 **Jay** : okay????

 **Jay** : wait you’re what now?

 **JG** : Oh, right! Your parents are my god-parents and my parents are you, Aziz and Isra’s

 **JG** : We’re god-siblings

 **JG** : Surprise!

 **Jay** : ?????????

 **Jay** : What does that actually mean???

 **JG** : sibling things? like being understanding about Aziz being irrational? or telling you embarrassing stories about when you were nine months old? telling you how to pit uncle cassim and uncle sultan against each other so they try and buy you cooler jewelry for your birthday?

 **JG** : ya know, don’t worry about it

 **JG** : in other news: did you see the video I put up of the game the other day?

 **Jay** : Oh! Yeah it was awesome

 **Jay** : actually ~~if we’re talking again~~ can I stop by?

 **Jay** : I wanted to compare notes on the geo test last week

 **JG** : sure! See you in a sec

**_Jasmine’s Phone_ **

**_6:30 PM_ **

**Jasmine** : ~~Jay, I~~

 **Jasmine** : ~~Can I call you we need to ta~~

 **Jasmine** : ~~I need to tell you~~

 **Jasmine** : ~~There’s something~~

 **Jasmine** : ~~we’re going back home~~

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_7:21 PM_ **

**_Incoming Call from Jasmine_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters left!  
> On the one hand: yay! Very excited to finish. On the other hand: sorry! There's a lot more story I want to tell, but the story I set out to tell is about Jasmine and Jay, and I would like to stick to the plan for once in my life. If I continue sticking to the plan, though this fic will be followed by a follow-up-fic or two where I can handle Aziz's drama, Isra's cuteness, more characters from the Animated Series, and the 2nd and 3rd descendants movies. (Gil and Mozenrath are very high on my list of people that Jay needs to talk to. I finally caught up with the descendants movies, and Jay and Gil being each other's dance partners for the last number made me really happy)  
> Other notes:  
> -Jay canonically does not deal well with sincere apologies, per “Lonnie’s Warrior Sword,” the Junior Novel set after Descendants 2.  
> -In series, Jay and Jordan weren't talking because they thought they were mad at each other over Jordan's part in revealing Jay's parents. In reality, I just didn't know what to do with Jordan until I was four chapters in. I'm still not positive what to do with her, but now she's back in case I do want to use her.


	7. Dear Mom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for any delay posting this. I started super overthinking things last fall, and decided that rather than overcomplicate things, I was just going to round out the original story I was trying to tell. That leaves a few things unfinished, but hopefully this will be a satisfying end - to part 1 at least ; )

~~Dear mom,~~

~~Are you really leaving so~~

~~Dear Jasmine,~~

~~Mom,~~

~~Hey,~~

~~It’s~~

~~I don’t want~~

~~I should have known you’d~~

**_Mal’s Phone_ **

**_11:30 AM_ **

**Audrey:** Okay, what’s up with him now?

 **M:** What’s up with who?

 **Audrey:** Jay? Duh? He looks like death warmed over

 **M:** he didn’t sleep well, it’s nothing

 **Audrey:** You sure? Nothing we need to get ahead of?

 **M:** No, don’t worry about it.

**_5:00 PM_ **

**E:** did J seem weird to you at dinner?

 **M:** I didn’t even look up from my homework for half of dinner. Did he seem weird to *you*?

 **E:** I don’t know, he’s just been too quiet today…

 **M:** He’s got practice tonight. Maybe we can drop in on him later.

**_Carlos’s Phone_ **

**_Groupchat_ **

**_10:47 PM_ **

**C:** have you guys seen J?

 **M:** ??? No? It’s 11 PM?

 **E:** No, why? Is he not in your room?

 **C:** he’s not here. I already checked the roof and he’s not there either.

 **C:** I’m gonna go check the tourney field

**_10:50 PM_ **

**C:** Is Jay with you?

 **Younger Prince Agrabah:** no

 **Younger Prince Agrabah:** why?

 **C:** he didn’t come back to our dorm and didn’t tell us if he was going somewhere

 **C:** Can you let us know if you see him?

 **A:** yeah, of course

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_7:12 PM_ **

**C:** Hey, where’d you go?

**_8:47 PM_ **

**C:** Where you at?

**_9:30 PM_ **

**C:** Jay seriously, come on

 **C:** Curfew’s in half an hour

**_10:00 PM_ **

**C:**?

**_10:15 PM_ **

**C:**?

**_10:20 PM_ **

**C:**?

**_10:22 PM_ **

**C:**?

**_10:23 PM_ **

**C:**?

**_10:25 PM_ **

**C:**?

**_10:26 PM_ **

**_Missed Call from C_ **

**_10:30 PM_ **

**C:**?????????????

**_10:50 PM_ **

**_Missed Call from E_ **

**E:** text us if you have a minute, please.

**_10:54 PM_ **

**M:** where are you?

**_10:57 PM_ **

**M:** where are you?

**_Evie’s Phone_ **

**_11:01 PM_ **

**E:** Good evening Sultana, sorry for disturbing you so late, but it’s urgent. Is Jay with you at the embassy?

 **Sultana Jasmine:** Hello Evie, no, I’m afraid we haven’t seen him today. Is something wrong?

 **E:** he’s not in his room and none of us have seen him since tourney practice. Carlos is checking around campus but I was hoping he just went to see you.

**Sultana Jasmine:**

**Sultana Jasmine:**

**Sultana Jasmine:** Okay, we’ll let you know if we see him. ~~Should we~~ Does FG know?

 **E:** No, we haven’t called her yet. We didn’t want to get him in trouble, but if he’s not with you that’s my next call.

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_11:02 PM_ **

**_Missed Call from Jasmine_ **

****

**_11:03 PM_ **

**_Missed Call from Jasmine_ **

****

**_11:03 PM_ **

**M:** where are you?

 **M:** if you’re just ignoring your phone, I’m going to kill you

**_11:05 PM_ **

**E:** We’re all worried, so please let us know where you are. If not for us then for Jasmine. Please???

**_11:06 PM_ **

**_Missed Call from Aladdin_ **

**_Groupchat_ **

**_11:08 PM_ **

**M:** any luck?

 **M:** Carlos???

 **M:** ANSWER YOUR FUCKING PHONE

 **C:** Hey, sorry, ran into Aziz looking for Jay here too

 **C:** ~~Gave me a heart attack~~

 **C:** He’s not here.

 **C:** Oh, and Aziz says Jasmine and Aladdin are leaving Auradon this weekend, so.

 **E:** !!!

 **E:** Jasmine said he wasn’t there, though?????

**_Evie’s Phone_ **

**_11:19 PM_ **

**Sultana Jasmine:** he’s with us

 **E:** Oh thank goodness

**_Aziz’s Phone_ **

**_11:35 PM_ **

**Aziz:** So you found him?

**_11:50 PM_ **

**Dad:** Yes, he’s okay, but were gonna keep him here tonight instead of sending him back to school.

**Aziz:**

**Aziz:** k

**_Groupchat_ **

**_8:43 AM_ **

**J:** So about last night: Sorry, won’t happen again.

 **M:** it damn well better not. You’re lucky FG is such a softie or you’d be in detention til we graduated.

 **E:** We’re glad to hear you’re okay!

 **E:** Now.

 **E:** WTF Jay????

 **J:** Sorry, sorry.

 **J:** So mom and dad are leaving tomorrow.

 **C:** Yeah, Aziz told us.

 **J:** ??? When???

 **C:** Last night. He and I were both looking for you. We thought something bad had happened until then.

 **C:** BTW, he crashed in our room last night.

 **C:** letting you know BC he’s making sure the sheets get washed and that’s why your sheets are gone

 **J:** ?

 **J:** Ya know, that’s a problem for another day.

 **E:** So your parents are going home?

**J:**

**J:** yeah

 **J:** Didn’t know if it would be weird to go see them or if that would be clingy

 **J:** so after tourney I started to go to see them, but then changed my mind and started walking back.

 **J:** And then I did that about a dozen times

 **J:** I eventually got to the embassy and just kinda stood outside for a while.

 **J:** Carpet kept me company.

 **J:** and when dad came looking for him, he found me.

 **J:** which was why he was getting Carpet in the first place, so that was convenient I guess

 **J:** and then we talked and I just decided to crash there.

 **J:** Oh, and you guys need to have breakfast here sometime. Ms. Hafsah makes the best coffee.

 **E:** Ooooooh, sure, bring me some if you can!

 **E:** but are you good now?

 **J:** yeah, I’m good. Just...gonna miss them.

 **J:** never fucking missed Jafar when we left.

 **J:** It’s weird.

 **M:** sounds weird. Feelings are gross, but I’m glad you and your parents are good.

 **J:** lol, thanks Mal.

 **C:** You staying there tonight?

 **J:** probably. Mom wants to just hang out today.

 **J:** tho dad’s making faces at his phone, so something might be wrong.

 **C:** Nah, he and Aziz are arguing. It’s fine.

 **J:** ?????

 **J:** Why?

 **J:** and why do you know that?

 **J:** since when are you and Aziz friends?

 **C:** since last night. He’s got the Crypt Raider game I’ve been looking for forever.

 **C:** They’re arguing because Aladdin wants him to hang with you all as a family, but given last night Aziz thinks you should spend the day with them on your own.

 **J:** Thats...nice of him. And also super wierd. Tell him it’s not gonna bother me.

 **C:** he says that’s not the point and to have a good time.

 **M:** Okay, really, WTF Carlos?

 **E:** Hey, let the little brothers have their own thing. It’s fine

 **C:** :shrug:

**J:**

**J:** Okay, so mom just had an idea. Do you guys want to hang out with us too?

 **E:** What?

 **E:** J no, we couldn’t…

 **M:** no

 **J:** come on. Mom wants to have a family day before they leave and since you’re my family too, you should come. Please????

 **M:** OMG w/ the politeness

 **C:** Aziz says he’s in if we’re in apparently?

 **M:** Except that we’re not in. Come on, Jay, just go. Have a good day, okay?

 **E:** Do you want us there?

**E:**

**E:** I don’t want to intrude on your time with your parents, but if it’s family, and if you want us there, I would love to be there.

 **J:** What? Of course I want you there.

 **M:** FGD, Evie, no!

 **C:** I’m in.

 **M:** did Aziz convince you?

 **C:** Yeah, he said Ms. Hafsah bought more dates.

 **J:** come on Mal please? I’ll owe you…

 **M:** ~~No. This isn’t a favor! This is us intruding o~~

**_Mal’s Phone_ **

**_9:14 AM_ **

**Aladdin:** hey, so remember that thing I told you about you being really good family to Jay when we couldnt?

 **M:** yes?

 **Aladdin:** that doesnt mean that just because we can now that we want to replace you.

 **Aladdin:** if jay wanted more time alone with us, I’d be okay with that, but he wants you guys to be with us today, so we do too.

 **M:** well maybe that’s the problem

**M:**

**M:**

**M:** Look. It’s not about you guys.

 **M:** the rest of us would kill for our parents to care so much. We dont want to take that time away from him. I dont think he gets that he cant share parents like that

 **Aladdin:** huh, well that’s fair.

 **Aladdin:** but, you guys keep saying that you dont know what to ask us for.

 **Aladdin:** i know I might be overstepping with this but, as far as we’re concerned, you’re a package deal. Jay’s our son, you’re his family, so you’re our family too.

 **Aladdin:** In whatever way you’re comfortable with.

 **Aladdin:** ~~we’re not looking to replace your parents~~

 **Aladdin:** ~~at least if you dont want us to.~~

 **Aladdin:** ~~we can be weird overinvolved cousins or something~~

 **Aladdin:** ~~I’m not really an expert in families either~~

 **Aladdin:** point being, we’d be happy to have you with us

**M:**

**M:**

**M:** okay

**_Groupchat_ **

**_9:32 AM_ **

**M:** if you’re *sure*

 **M:** we don’t want to take time with them away from you

 **J:** of course I’m sure, Mal

**M:**

**M:** okay

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_Jasmine changed to Mom in Contacts_ **

**_Aladdin changed to Dad in Contacts_ **

~~Dear mom,~~ ~~~~

~~Dear Ja~~ ~~~~

Dear mom,

~~Thanks~~ ~~~~

~~We had a good time~~ ~~~~

I’m going to miss you.

Like, I hope you already know that at this point, but I wanted to actually say it. Write it. ~~Whatever~~ I know I can still write to you or call, but I liked ~~knowing you were all close by~~ ~~being able to come over for dinner~~ seeing you in person. It’s going to be different. ~~Not that this entire thing hasn’t been different. I just got used to having you around. I don’t think I’ve ever had to say goodbye to someone I’d actually miss~~

I know why you have to go, but I still wish you could stay a little longer, ya know?

Thanks again for taking us all out today! We all had a really good time. I still can’t believe you got Dude to sit in a purse all day. ~~Or that there are actually places in Auradon that don’t allow animals to run around. I thought magical creatures were kind of their thing. Either way,~~ Carlos has not stopped talking about that ice cream shop we went to, and I think Mal just enjoyed getting out without being looked at like the king’s girlfriend all the time. It was also nice meeting Genie at dinner, and I think I agree with you: he is absolutely ridiculous in the best way. It’s a little weird to know I’ve got a genie-godfather, but still, he’s a cool dude.

We’re all really looking forward to spending the summer in Agrabah, by the way! The part about having a royal ball is cool, but I can’t wait to see the city and to meet Isra and Sultan Hammed (Just Hammed? I know Aziz calls him Grandfather. I feel like I at least need to meet him first before calling him that, but calling him Sultan all the time seems stupidly formal. IDK, I guess we’ll see when I get there). Isra’s drawings are still up in our room, and Aziz shared a few other pictures that Evie is still gushing over.

Aziz also told us we’d have to go shopping before we visited Agrabah this summer and now he and Evie apparently have me scheduled for a fitting? I know it’s gonna be hot, but I don’t see why he thinks we can’t wear leather there. Evie is backing him up, though, and she never misses an excuse to make us things.

Back to the trip though, I’ll mostly be looking forward to seeing you guys again.

I’m not sure what I’m going to say when you leave tomorrow (Today? Sorry if this letter got delayed, I super meant to give it to you when you left). Hopefully I won’t break down or something embarrassing, but it’s going to be hard to say goodbye. So in case I can’t say it later/didn’t say it before, I love you guys and I hope to hear from you soon.

(Like as soon as you get back home soon would be nice)

Love, your son,

Jay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it! I'll try to be back soon with more, but I'd like to have a healthy backlog built up of finished content before starting to publish part 2, or possibly put up a snippets story that contains any verbal exchanges that the epistolary format didn't support.


End file.
